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OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 
OF  CALIFORNIA 

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EDWIN  STANTONFICKES 
.  HIS  BOOK 


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THE 


IN  THE 


OHIO  VALLEY. 


THE  RISE  AND  FALL  OF  THE   WATERS  FROM  PITTSBURGH 
TO  CAIRO,  WITH  ACCOUNTS  OF  THE  DESTRUCTION 
OF    PROPERTY,    AND    INCIDENTS   BY   EYE-WIT- 
NESSES AND  SUFFERERS;  TOGETHER  WITH 
USEFUL  AND  IMPORTANT  INFORMA- 
TION AND  STATISTICS. 

ALSO, 

THE  WORK  OF  THE  GALLIPOLIS  RELIEF  COMMITTEE. 


EDITED  BY 

JOHN   L.  VANCK. 


GALUPOLIS,  O.: 

THE  BULLETIN  OFFICE; 

1884. 


\ 


COPYRIGHTED  1884,  BY  JOHN  L.  VANCE. 


p 


THE  STORY  OF  THE  FLOOD  OF  1884. 


A  new  leaf  must  be  added  to  the  history  of  our  country ; 
•not  a  pleasant  one,  but  one  of  the  saddest  and  most  calami- 
tous with  which  our  people  have  ever  been  visited.  It  is  not 
our  purpose,  in  adding  this  leaf,  to  enter  into  exhaustive  details, 
and*  dwell  at  great  length  upon  the  hundreds  and  thousands 
of  sad  but  interesting  incidents  in  connection  therewith,  but 
to  present,  in  a  brief  and  comprehensive  form,  an  account  of 

THE  GREAT  KLOOD 

that  rendered  desolate,  for  the  time  being,  the  beautiful  Ohio 
Valley,  extending  from  Pittsburgh  to  Cairo.  It  is  a  calamity, 
the  like  of  which  no  living  man  ever  saw  before  in  this  Valley 
or  that  of  the  Mississippi.  Nor  is  there  any  well  defined  tra- 
dition handod  down  by  the  aborigines  of  anv  such  occurrence 
during  the  ages  the  country  must  have  been  occupied  by 
them.  The  widespread  ruin  it  has  wrought  it  wal  take  years 
to  repair,  and  th<  usands  will  never  be  able  to  resurrect  their 
industries  nor  recuperate  their  fallen  fortunes.  We  trust  that 
it  may  not  be  the  fate  of  the  inhabitants  of  this  Valley  to  ever 
again  be  compelled  to  cope  with  such  a  combination  of  cir- 
cumstances as  produced  it. 

During  the  preceding  month  of  January  we  experienced 
the  se  erest  and  most  intense  cold  of  the  century.  There 
were  several  heavy  snow  storms  extending  over  a  vast  extent 
of  territory,  embracing  New  York,  Pennsylvania,  West  Vir- 
ginia, Kentucky,  Indiana  nnd  Ohio.  Snow  was  reported 
four  feet  deep  in  the  m  mntains,  and  it  covered  the  hills  and 


•i  HISTORY    OF   THE   GREAT   FLOOD    OF    1884. 

valleys  of  all  the  tributary  streams  of  tVe  Ohio  River.  The 
proverbial  "January  thaw''  did  not  come  with  its  accustomed 
vigor.  The  weather  moderated  towards  the  close  of  the 
month  at  intervals,  but  before  the  great  snow  falls  had  been, 
converted  into  water  and  found  their  way  to  the  channel  of 
the  river,  they  would  be  caught  and  locked  in  the  icy  embrace 
of  returning  cold  in  all  of  the  small  streams  and  rivulets. 
However,  with  the  expiring  days  of  January  came  mild,  mod- 
erate weather,  that  began  to  start  the  ice  gorges  in  the  Alle- 
gheny, Monongahela,  Youghiogheny,  and  in  the  interior  of 
Ohio.  There  was  less  than  the  usual  amount  of  damage  at 
headwaters  by  the  breaking  of  these  gorges,  by  reason  of  all 
the  headwater  streams  being  well  in  bank,  as  was  also  the  Ohio 
River  to  its  mouth.  Steamboat  navigation  was  beginning  to 
resume,  business  was  reported  very  active  at  many  points, 
and  the  usual  awakening  of  hope  and  cheerfulness,  after  the 
severe  cold,  had  begun  to  inspire  confidence,  enterprise  and 
life  in  the  whole  Valley  for  nine  hundred  miles. 

So  much  for  an  introductory  to  our  little  history  of  this 
ever-to-be-remembered  deluge.  In  order  to  get  as  many 
facts  in  as  small  a  compass  as  is  consistent  with  our  purpose, 
we  shall  arrange  the  revelations  of  each  day  under  the  date 
of  their  occurrence,  beginning  with 

FEBRUARY  2. 

On  this  date  the  weather  was  reported  clear  and  pleasant 
throughout  the  whole  length  and  breadth  of  the  Valley. 

The  Allegheny  and  Monongahela  were  reported  falling. 
At  Wheeling  and  Ironton  the  river  was  stationary.  The 
Kanawha  and  Licking  Rivers  were  falling. 

FEBRUARY  3. 

The  Monongahela  had  fallen  nearly  five  feet  in  the  last 
twenty-four  hours,  standing  at  twelve  feet  nine  inches.  At 
Wheeling,  Pomeroy,  Point  Pleasant  and  Gallipolis  the  river, 
though  in  rather  robust  stage,  was  falling.  At  Ironton,  Cin- 
cinnati, Evansville,  Louisville,  Cairo  and  Memphis  it  was 
rising,  and  at  Cincinnati  had  reached  forty-nine  feet  nine  and 
one-half  inches,  and  had  begun  to  excite  sufficient  interest  to 


HISTORY    OF   THE    OR.  AT   FLOOD    OF    1884.  ^ 

cause  the  inquiry,  "How  high  do  you  think  it  will  go?" 
Some  said,  "  It's  about  as  high  now  as  it  will  get."  Others 
said,  "It  may  go  to  fifty-five  feet  here;"  but  none  thought 
of  sixty  or  sixty-five  feet,  although  on  this  very  day  it  was 
twenty-three  feet  higher  than  it  was  on  February  3d,  1883, 
rising  rather  rapidly,  a  ;d  threatening  rain.  On  the  night  of 
the  3d  it  w:s  advancing  so  rapidly  at  Cincinnati  that  arriving 
steamers  would  not  discharge  their  freight  upon  the  landing, 
for  fear  of  it  being  reached  before  morning  ;  and  the  towboats 
in  that  vicinity  began  to  take  an  active  interest  in  the  situation, 
and  there  was  a  slamming  and  banging  and  restless  moving 
-all  night,  among  every  sort  of  craft. 

FEBRUARY  4. 

Things  began  to  look  ominous  for  a  repetition  of  1883, 
though  it  was  not  a  certainty.  The  weather  was  warm,  and 
raining  at  Pittsburgh,  Wheeling,  Marietta,  Pomerojs  Point 
Pleasant,  Charleston,  Gallipolis,  Portsmouth,  Boston  Station 
on  the  Licking,  Cincinnati,  Madison,  Evansville,  Louisville 
and  Cairo,  but  falling  between  Pittsburgh  and  Maysville. 
At  Cincinnati,  however,  it  continued  to  rise,  and  marked  fifty- 
one  and  one-half  feet,  and  rising. 

FEBRUARY  5. 

The  situation  now  began  to  be  alarming  indeed,  all  along 
the  river.  Heavy  rains  throughout  its  entire  length,  of  twen- 
ty to  thirty  hours'  duration,  were  beginning  to  tell.  The 
weather  was  yet  mild,  and  it  was  known  that  there  was  yet 
much  snow  in  the  mountains,  and  that  the  warm  and  *heavy 
rains  must  not  only  melt  it  rapidly,  but  dissolve  the  ice  cover- 
ing the  whole  land  area  of  the  Valley  and  reaching  far  into 
the  interior  on  both  sides  of  the  Ohio  River,  bringing  every 
tributary  stream  to  its  highest  point. 

At  Pittsburgh,  the  greatest  apprehensions  were  felt  of  a  dis- 
astrous flood,  especially  among  those  whose  homes  were  along 
the  banks  of  the  Alleghen}'  and  Monongahela.  Stocks  of 
goods  and  household  effects  were  at  once  taken  in  all  haste  to 
more  elevated  positions,  and  the  day  was  spent  industriously 
in  endeavoring  to  meet  what  all  felt  certain  now  would  come 
— the  highest  water  since  a  year  before.  From  Parkershurg, 
Pomerov,  Point  Pleasant,  Charleston,  Gallipolis,  Huntington, 
Catlettsburg,  Ironton,  Portsmouth,  Carrollton,  Frankfort, 
Madison,  Evansville  and  Louisville  there  was  but  one  cry — 


6  HISTORY    OF   THE    GREAT   FLOOD    OF    1664. 

"RISING-   AND   RAINING!" 

These  were  words  of  terrible  import  to  hundreds  of  thou- 
sands of  people  who  already  saw  the  banks  in  front  of  them 
full  at  many  places,  and  who  knew  that  in  a  few  hours  at 
furthest  the  resistless  waters  would  be  engulfing  them  even 
w'herc  yet  to  this  moment  they  had  rested  in  fancied  security 
that  the  flood  of  1883  would  not  be  repeated  in  half  a  cen- 
tury, and  possibly  never  again.  "  Rising  and  rr.ining"  at 
every  point  told  them  oely  too  certainly  of  disaster,  devasta- 
tion and  irreparable  loss.  It  sounded  like  a  death  knell  in 
the  ears  of  the  poor  and  needv,  many  of  whom  had  already 
been  waiting  for  weeks  for  the  opening  of  mills,  mines,  navi- 
gation and  all  species  of  industry,  and  whose  very  existence 
depended  on  the  speedy  opening  of  uninterrupted  business. 
Thousands  in  the  (owns  and  cities  sat  up  till  midnight  to  h.ar 
the  latest  telegrams,  and  when  they  came  they  conveyed  in- 
telligence even  more  gloomy  and  foreboding. 

At  Pittsburgh,  the  water  had  reached  a  point  higher  than  at 
any  time  since  1865,  while  the  Kanawha,  Big  Sandy,  Muskin- 
gum  and  Scioto  were  reported  overflowing  and  pouring  their 
angry  and  wasteful  waters  into  the  great  river  of  the  Valley. 
At  Cincinnati,  the  water  had  now  reached  a  height  of  fifty- 
five  feet  three  inches,  and  was  rising  at  the  rate  of  four 
inches  an  hour.  At  Wheeling,  it  was  thirty  feet,  and  rising  a 
foot  an  hour.  At  Louisville,  in  that  part  of  the  city  known 
as  "  The  Point,"  the  inhabitants  spent  the  night  in  moving 
their  household  goods  from  their  habitations  to  higher 
ground.  White  River,  at  Indianapolis,  was  within  six  feet 
of  the'  highest  point  ever  reached,  and  the  rain  coming  down 
in  torrents.  At  Falmouth,  Ky.,  it  had  been  raining  continu- 
ously for  forty-eight  hours.  Trains  were  delayed  by  land- 
slides. Licking  River  was  running  over  and  rising  eight 
inches  an  hour.  At  Cleveland,  the  Cuyahoga  was  higher 
than  at  any  time  during  the  flood  of  last  y>-ar.  The  Valley 
Railroad,  and  the  Cleveland  &  Pittsburgh  Road  between 
Newburg  and  Bradford,  were  under  the  water  in  many 
places.  At  Canton,  streets  and  cellars  were  full  of  water  in 
the  northwestern  part  of  the  city.  The  Valley  and  Connot- 
ton  Railroads  were  disabled,  and  trains  had  to  be  abandoned 
on  the  Coshocton  Division  of  the  Connotton  Road.  The 
Mahoning  River  was  booming,  and  at  Youngstown  was  over- 
flowing its  banks  and  driving  many  families  from  their  homes, 
and  rising  rapidly.  At  Findlay,  the  Blanchard  River  was 


HISTORY    OF   THE    GREAT   FLOOD    OF    1884.  7 

inundating  a  portion  of  the  city,  pouring  into  the  gas-works 
and  driving  people  from  the  lower  end  of  the  town.  The 
village  of  Arlington,  that  county,  was  flooded,  and  a  large 
amount  of  lumber  swept  away.  Trains  were  delayed  at  Akron 
by  flood  damages,  and  a  large  iron  bridge  over  the  Cuya- 
hoga  at  Peninsula  was  weighted  down  with  heavy  stone  to 
hold  it  in  place.  The  Ottawa  River  was  out  of  its  banks  at 
Lima.  Hocking  River  was  carrying  everything  before  it, 
and  at  Nelsonville  the  indications  pointed  to  a  great  flood. 

This  was  the  situation  at  midnight  from  all  points  of  the 
compass  on  the  5th  of  February.  Could  it  do  otherwise  than 
carry  consternation  and  dismay  to  every  inhabitant  of  the 
Ohio  Valley  whose  home  was  on  the  bank  of  the  Ohio,  to 
know  that  every  turbulent  tributary  of  that  mighty  stream 
was  adding  its  force  and  weight  to  this  already  mighty  ocean 
of  water?  At  Cincinnati,  its  waves  and  swells  were  already 
splashing  over  the  curbstones  at  the  corner  of  Second  Street 
and  the  Public  Landing,  and  climbing  higher  and  higher  with 
each  succeeding  wish-wash,  which  kept  up  with  unvarying 
and  monotonous  melody.  The  Cincinnati,  Washington  & 
Baltimore  Road  stopped  receiving  freight  in  the  afternoon. 
Steamboat  navigation  was  about  suspended.  All  the  inhabi- 
tants of  Millcreek  were  preparing  for  the  very  worst. 
Thousands  of  head  of  cattle  were  being  removed,  at  great 
expense  and  trouble,  to  the  Stock  Yards.  AbeFurst.  a  deal- 
er, had  4,000  head  that  had  to  be  removed  with  all  possible 
expedition.  The  situation  at  Newport  was  a  mournful  one 
to  contemplate.  Already  visited  by  a  flood  in  two  successive 
years,  she  was  now  preparing  for  a  third  visitation,  and  with 
every  prospect  of  far  greater  calamity  than  before.  One 
hundred  families  left  their  homes  on  this  day.  Many  were 
deserving  of  the  kindest  pity.  The  business  disarrangement 
of  the  city  had  thrown  many  out  of  employment  for  months, 
and  their  scanty  supplies  were  even  now  about  exhausted, 
and  here  was  cruel  fate  tossing  them  in  a  heap  entirely  upon 
the  charity  of  the  world.  Six  feet  more  of  water — that  none 
doubted  now  would  come — would  put  out  the  fires  of  many 
mills,  and  anxious  and  worried  faces  were  seen  on  every  hand. 

The  same  state  of  affairs  existed  at  Covinglon.  Fear  and 
anxiety  were  depicted  on  every  countenance — the  rich  and 
well-to-do  as  well  as  the  poor.  At  ill-fated  Lawrenceburg 
the  situation  was  desperate.  Six  thousand  inhabitants,  who 
had,  in  the  flood  of  1883,  endured  enough  of  such  experiences 
for  an  ordinary  life-time,  waited  with  fear  and  trembling  the 


8  HISTORY   OF   THE    GREAT    FLOOD    OF    1884. 

fearful  onset  of  1884.  In  the  meantime,  however,  they  had 
not  been  idle.  Fully  one  thousand  families  had  moved  from 
their  homes  to  places  of  greater  safety,  to  avoid  the  remorse- 
less tide  that  seemed  to  have  no  limit.  The  public  schools 
had  closed ;  court  had  adjourned  ;  all  business  save  that  of 
taking  care  of  property  was  suspended.  Watchmen  patrolled 
the  levee  to  give  the  first  note  of  a  break  bv  the  waters.  The 
anxiety  was  so  great  that  hundreds  neither  ate  nor  slept. 
The  sick,  the  aged  and  infirm,  and  children  of  tender  years 
were  removed  to  places  of  safety  and  placed  in  charge  of  com- 
mittees appointed  to  take  care  of  them.  The  hurry  and 
panic  of  all  this  was  like  the  evacuation  of  an  army  before 
the  advent  of  superior  forces.  It  -baffles  all  attempt  at  de- 
scription. 

FEBRUARY  6. 

Business  was  now  entirely  suspended  at  Pittsburgh.  The 
Allegheny  gas-works  were  flooded,  and  that  city  and  a  large 
portion  of  Pittsburgh  were  in  total  darkness,  and  the  rain 
still  came  down  in  torrents.  The  water  was  nearly  as  high  as 
in  1832,  and  rising,  the  damage  up  to  this  time  amounting  to 
$2,000,000.  At  Wheeling,  it  marked  forty-three  feet  and 
rising,  with  steady  rain.  At  Marietta,  forty-one  feet  and 
rising,  with  steady  rain.  At  Pomeroy,  forty-five  feet ;  rising 
four  inches  an  hour  and  raining.  At  Point  Pleasant,  forty-six 
feet  six  inches ;  rising  three  inches  an  hour  and  raining ; 
everybody  moving  out  of  the  lower  end  of  the  town  ;  nothing 
short  of  1883  expected,  and  every  preparation  possible  being 
made  to  receive  it ;  the  space  under  the  suspension  bridge  only 
forty-six  feet.  At  Charleston,  the  Kanawha  was  stationary, 
with  only  nineteen  feet  in  the  channel,  but  raining,  and  a  rise 
momentarily  expected.  At  Gallipolis,  the  river  had  risen  five 
feet  in  twenty-four  hours,  and  was  still  advancing  three  inches 
an  hour,  and  lacking  only  eight  feet  of  February  pth,  1883. 
The  creeks  of  Gallia  County  were  all  reported  full  and  over- 
flowing. The  rain  had  fallen  incessantly  for  twenty-four 
hours.  The  thermometer  marked  fifty-eight  degrees,  and 
there  was  no  mistaking  the  indications.  The  Bostona,  Captain 
John  W.  Hollo  way,  went  to  the  bank  here  and  discharged 
her  crew,  by  the  order  of  Superintendent  Chas.  M.  Holloway, 
of  the  Big  Sandy  Packet  Company.  No  mail  arrived,  owing 
to  the  flood  in  the  Hocking  River  and  the  carrying  away  of 
the  large  bridge  at  Logan. 

At  Ironton,  the  river  marked  forty-eight  feet  three  inches 
and  rising,  with  heavy  rain.     At  Portsmouth,  fifty  feet  six 


HISTORY    OF   THE    GREAT   FLOOD    OF    1884.  9 

inches,  and  rising  three  inches  an  hour  was  reported.  Licking 
River  was  booming  all  along  the  line,  and  heavy  rains  re- 
ported from  head  to  mouth.  At  Madison  and  Louisville  the 
same  cry  went  up — "  raining  and  rising  three  inches  an  hour." 
The  prospect  was  indeed  gloomy.  Between  Evansville  and 
Paducah  one  million  bushels  of  corn  was  reported  to  be  lying 
in  the  fields  that  it  was  impossible  to  move,  and  which  must 
be  swept  away. 

At  Cincinnati,  ten  miles  of  river  front  were  being  swept 
by  raging  waters,  and  the  greatest  excitement  prevailed.  The 
First  Regiment  and  Second  Battery  went  on  duty,  supplement- 
ing the  police  force  in  the  preservation  of  life  and  property. 
A  floating  relay  of  fire  engines  was  placed  in  readiness  to 
render  further  assistance  to  the  beleagured  city  in  case  of 
need.  At  midnight  the  height  of  water  measured  sixty-one 
feet,  only  five  feet  four  inches  less  than  in  1883.  General 
Hazen's  dispatch  from  Washington  added  to  the  intensity  of 
the  excitement.  It  was  as  follows : 

CHIEF  SIGNAL  OFFICE,  WASHINGTON,  February  6,  1884. 
From  two  to  three  inches  of  rain  reported  in  the  Ohio  Valley  during  the  last 
'twenty-four  hours.  River  rising  rapidly  at  all  points.  Seven  to  eight  feet  above 
the  danger  line  at  all  points  from  Louisville  northward.  Floods  will  increase, 
and  prove  very  destructive.  Give  general  warning.  Property  and  stock  should 
be  removed  to  points  above  the  danger  line.  Floods  will  reach  the  Mississippi 
early  next  week.  W.  B.  HAZEN,  Chief  Signal  Officer. 

It  was  a  mournful  day  at  Cincinnati.  Business  men  went 
about  as  if  a  leaden  weight  were  already  hung  to  their  heavy 
hearts.  Nothing  was  thought  about  or  talked  of  but  the 
•deluge,  and  speculations  as  to  where  it  was  likely  to  stop  and 
when  it  would  end.  The  Chamber  of  Commerce  met,  but 
transacted  no  commercial  business.  It  voted  to  duplicate  its 
donation  to  the  relief  fund  last  year  of  $5,000,  and  started  a 
subscription  that  in  less  than  twenty  minutes  augmented  the 
donation  to  about  $8,000.  The  Legislature  was  requested  to 
authorize  the  City  Comptroller  to  borrow  a  sum  not  exceeding 
$100,000  for  the  use  of  the  Relief  Committee  of  the  Common 
"Council.  The  Relief  Committee  organized  with  H.  C.  Urner, 
President;  S.  F.  Dana,  Treasurer,  and  Colonel  Sidney  D. 
Maxwell,  Secretary.  The  southwest  corner  of  Fourth  and 
Race  streets  was  chosen  as  headquarters.  Committees  on 
food,  on  clothing  and  on  various  things  needful  were  at  once 
appointed,  and  went  immediately  to  work.  "  The  Associated 
Charities  "  met  and  organized  an  Executive  Committee,  and 


-I"  i..,-iOKY    OF    •"  IE    GREAT   FLOOD    OF   1884. 

the  great  city,  with  its  260,000  inhabitants,  was  in  fighting  trim 
to  save  lite  if  it  could  not  save  property.  The  streets  pre- 
sented a  wierd  and  woeful  appearance.  The  following  ex- 
tract from  a  Cincinnati  paper  will  give  the  reader  an  intelli- 
gent idea  of  the  situation,  and  his  imagination  can  depict  the 
details : 

"  At  the  foot  of  every  street,  as  far  east  as  Elm,  were  skiffs,  yawls,  improvised 
flats,  and  other  light  crafts  engaged  in  removing  property  of  poor  people  wha 
had  been  driven  from  their  homes.  Wagons  were  hurrying  through  mud  and 
water,  removing  portable  property  from  manufactories,  the  teams  being  driven 
as  never  wagon  teams  had  been  driven  before.  One  small  wagon,  on  the 
cover  of  which  was  painted  the  name  of  a  yeast  company,  was  suggestive 
of  a  further  rise. 

"  Families  were  congregated  on  sidewalks,  the  mothers  and  eldest  children 
carrying  the  smallest  children,  and  the  children  of  medium  size  carrying  chairs, 
tables,  and  other  house  property  that  would  float,  and  all  jostling  and  pushing 
one  another  as  though  time  was  to  them  of  great  importance  in  the  effort  to  get 
in  each  other's  way,  and  thereby  accomplish  as  little  as  possible." 

The  view  of  Covington  and  Newport  from  the  bridges  pre- 
sented to  the  eye  a  sea  of  desolate  waters,  with  partially 
inundated  dwellings  and  manufactories,  and  fleeing  people  in 
the  streets,  many  of  them  with  all  they  possessed  loaded  in  a 
wagon  or  on  a  dray,  with  husband,  wife  and  children  follow- 
ing along  behind,  seeking  safety.  A  thousand  houses  at  least 
were  under  water  in  Newport.  Boats  and  barges  and  all  sorts. 
of  river  property  moved  oftentimes  far  out  from  shore  with  a' 
net  work  of  cables,  the  bridge  itself  being  only  approachable 
by  boats,  the  water  covering  the  first  floor  of  every  building 
on  the  Public  Landing  at  Cincinnati,  and  in  the  second  stories- 
of  buildings  at  the  foot  of  Commercial  Row,  Walnut  Street 
and  Broadway,  and  extending  up  Sycamore  and  Main  Streets,. 
and  Broadway  north  of  Second  Street. 

At  Loveland,  the  Little  Miami  was  playing  sad  havoc. 
The  city  was  full  of  homeless  people  and  wrecked  and  wasted 
property.  The  same  was  true  at  Miamiville,  Milford,  Mor- 
row, Plainville  and  Middletown.  At  Columbus,  travel  was  sus- 
pended on  nearly  all  roads  centering  there,  in  consequence  ot 
the  washing  away  of  tracks,  bridges,  trestles  and  culverts,  and 
the  telegraph  service  was  in  a  badly  crippled  state.  The  Scioto, 
Hocking  and  Hockhocking  were  all  dangerously  high,  getting 
higher,  and  doing  great  damage  to  railroads,  farmers  and 
villages.  At  Steubenville.  the  water  had  reached  a  height 
never  before  known.  The  Susquehanna  was  exciting  alarm 


HISTORY    OF   THE    GREAT    FLOOD    OF   1884. 


11 


at  points  in  Maryland.  The  Wabash  was  sweeping  away 
bridges  and  all  sorts  of  property  in  Indiana.  The  flood  was 
on  the  increase  in  Western  Pennsylvania,  and  the  Schuylkill 
was  doing  great  damage  at  Philadelphia. 

FEBRUARY  7. 

The  first  thing  on  Thursday  morning,  February  7th,  was 
Chief  Signal  Service  Officer  General  W.  B.  Hazen's  telegram 
of  warning,  dated  and  reading  as  follows  : 

WASHINGTON,  February  7 — i  A.  M. 

The  floods  will  increase  in  the  Ohio,  and  be  very  disastrous.  Property  should 
be  removed  to  points  above  the  high  water  mark  of  the  floods  of  last  year.  The 
floods  will  extend  to  the  Mississippi,  between  Cairo  and  Memphis. 

At  this  hour  it  was  marking  sixty-one  feet  and  one-fourth  of 
an  inch  at  Cincinnati,  or  only  three  feet  three  and  three- 
fourths  inches  less  than  it  marked  at  five  o'clock  on  the  morn- 
ing of  February  I5th,  1883,  when  it  stood  at  sixty-six  feet 
four  inches.  It  would  seem  that  the  warning,  was  almost 
superfluous  from  the  fact  that  on  this  day  the  Monongahela 
and  Allegheny  were  stationary,  having  touched  their  highest 
points.  At  Pittsburgh,  the  Monongahela,  by  which  all  com- 
parisons are  made,  registered  thirty-four  feet,  or  only  twelve 
inches  less  than  it  did  February  loth,  1832,  its  highest  known 
mark,  as  will  be  seen  by  the  following  record  of  big  floods 
in  Pittsburgh  since  1832  : 

Ft.  In.                          Ft.  In. 

Feb.  10,  1832 35  o 

Feb.  10,  1840 26  9 

Feb.  i,  1847 26  o 

April  19,1852 31  9 

April,  1858 26  o 

April  12,  1860 29  7 

Sept.  (29,  1861 30  9 

Jan.  20,  1862 28  7 

April  22,  1862 25  4 

March  4,  1865 24  o 

March  1 8,  1865 31  4 

April  i,  1865 21  6 

May  12,1865 2I  6 

Feb.  15,  1867 22  o 

March  13,  1867.. 22  6 

March  18,  1868 22  o 

April  15,  1868 20  6 

April  1 1,  1872 20  6 


Dec.  14,  1873 2S 

Jan.  8,  1874  , 22 

Dec.  30, 1874 21 

August  3,  1875 21 

Dec.  28,  1875 21 

Sept.  18,  1876 23 

Jan.  17,  1877 23 

Dec.  11,  1878 24 

Jan.  29,  1879 20 

March  12,  1879 20 

Feb.  14,  1880 22 

Feb.  10,  1881 25 

June  10,  iSSi 28 

Jan.  28,  1882 21 

Feb.  22,1882 21 

Feb.  5,  1883 25 

Feb.  8,  1883  27 


12  HISTORY   OF   THE   GREAT  FLOOD    OF   1884. 

The  Allegheny  registered  thirty-four  feet  six  inches.  At 
Wheeling,  there  was  fifty-one  feet  of  water,  and  rising ;  at 
Charleston,  West  Virginia,  twenty  feet  and  rising  ;  at  Galli- 
polis,  still  rising  three  inches  an  hour,  as  it  had  been  for  thirty- 
six  hours  ;  at  Huntington,  fifty-eight  feet  and  rising  three 
inches  an  hour;  at  Ironton,  fifty-three  feet  and  rising  four 
inches  an  hour  ;  at  Portsmouth,  fifty-five  feet  nine  inches  and 
rising  four  inches  an  hour ;  in  point  of  fact,  rising  from 
Wheeling  to  Cairo,  and  so  frightfully  high  that  all  towns  not 
absolutely  above  high-water  mark  were  already  inundated, 
and  suffering  untold  damages,  amounting  to  millions  of  dollars. 

Pittsburgh  and  Allegheny  were  in  a  deluge  of  water.  In 
the  two  cities  exist  a  population  of  about  300,000  inhabitants, 
against  20,000  inhabitants  in  1832.  Along  their  miles  and 
miles  of  river  front  stand  great  manufactories,  representing 
almost  every  imaginable  enterprise,  and  in  which  millions  of 
dollars  were  invested,  besides  railroads,  with  all  their  valuable 
rolling  stock,  and  dwellings  for  from  25,000  to  30,000  people, 
all  inundated — some  swept  entirely  away — some  damaged  be- 
yond repair — some  requiring  the  additional  investment  of 
fortunes  to  save  what  was  left  of  them,  and  from  20,000  to 
'  30,000  people  driven  from  their  homes.  The  confusion, 
anxiety,  distress  and  suffering  incident  to  such  a  state  of 
affairs  in  these  two  cities  alone  could  not  be  described  in  a 
dozen  volumes  like  this.  A  relief  fund  was  at  once  started, 
and  I.  M.  Gusky  headed  the  first  paper  with  $500,  suggesting 
that  the  mayors  of  the  two  cities  appoint  committees  to  take 
charge  and  manage  the  funds,  and  recommending  prompt 
action.  The  cities  were  in  darkness,  owing  to  the  flooding  of 
the  gas-works,  and  the  military  were  called  out,  and  their 
tramp  was  heard  adding  to  the  many  strange  and  novel 
scenes  that  crowded  upon  each  other. 

Steubenville  was  mourning  that  she  had  one  hundred 
houses  submerged  and  many  washed  away,  some  caving  in, 
and  miles  of  railroad  track  wrecked,  and  some  of  them  sus- 
pending business.  Her  water-works  were  under  water.  Her 
iron  works  were  submerged,  with  thousands  of  kegs  of  nails 
rusting  in  the  muddy  element,  and  many  other  industries  and 
products  of  industry  in  a  like  condition.  Yet  Steubenville  is 
one  of  the  highest  located  towns  on  the  river,  and  it  is  usual 
with  her  to  lose  but  little  when  many  other  places  are  in  great 
distress.  The  water  got  two  feet  higher  here  than  in  1832. 

Wheeling  was  already  counting  her  loss  at  over*a  million 
dollars,  and  fifty-three  feet  marked  her  water  level  at  ten 


HISTORY    OF    THE    GREAT   FLOOD    OF   1884.  1£ 

o'clock  that  night,  standing  twenty  inches  on  her  post-office 
flo'-.r.  Every  inch  of  rise  had  caused  fear  and  trembling, 
but  happily  it  was  now  high  enough,  and  went  no  farther  j 
15,000  of  her  citizens  had  been  routed  from  their  homes; 
5,000  were  quartered  on  their  neighbors,  in  boarding  houses 
and  hotels,  while  10,000  found  homes  as  best  they  could 
in  churches,  school  houses  and  public  halls,  and  many  could 
find  no  roof  to  shelter  them.  All  day  long  those  of  her  citizens 
who  had  homes  and  were  comfortably  situated  were  witnesses 
of  the  desolation  of  others.  From  point  to  point  they  went, 
many  closing  their  places  of  business  and  vieing  with  each 
other  as  to  who  should  see  the  most  of  this  awful  and  majestic 
sight  that  had  never  before  been  presented  to  this  generation 
of  men.  The  water  was  now  over  four  feet  greater  than  the 
historical  flood  of  1832  at  this  point,  as  may  be  seen  by  the 
following  table : 

Tear.     Month.                                                                               Ft.  In. 

1810 — November. 48  . . 

1832 — February 48  1 1 

1852 — April 48 

1860 — April 43 

18,61 — September 44  2 

1862 — April 37 

1865 — March 41 

1873 — December 39  8 

1874 — January 38  8 

1878 — December 34  9 

1881— February 38  8 

1881 — June 40  9 

1883 — February 38  9 

1884 — February 53 

A  much  larger  area  of  the  city's  surface  was  of  course  sub- 
merged. The  island  was  entirely  under  water,  and  not  a 
house  not  inundated.  Skiffs  paddled  their  way  directly  over 
the  roofs  of  all  one-story  dwellings.  The  water  reached  to  Main 
Street  (in  Wheeling),  above  the  foot  of  the  hill ;  on  Market 
Street  to  the  alley  above  the  City  Bank  ;  on  Fourteenth  Street 
to  a  point  some  distance  east  of  Market ;  on  Twelfth  Street  to 
the  Zeitung  office,  and  on  Sixteenth  Street  east  of  the  Luth- 
eran Church,  and  the  water  was  six  feet  deep  in  the  counting 
room  of  the  Intelligencer  office.  Skiffs  navigated  East  Wheel- 
ing almftst  at  will.  Center  Market  Sqnare  was  flooded.  The 
fair  grounds  on  the  island  were  a  complete  wreck,  and  the 


14  HISTORY    OF    THE    GREAT   FLOOD    OF  1884. 

association  bankrupted.  It  was  a  sickening  spectacle.  There 
was  hardly  any  other  cry  went  up  from  the  island  but  "  For 
God's  sake  send  us  aid."  Fortunately  no  lives  were  lost,  but 
it  was  altogether  owing  to  the  almost  superhuman  exertions 
of  the  volunteer  life-saving  crew,  who  worked  as  men  never 
worked  before,  and  for  humanity's  sake  alone,  not  accepting 
a  red  cent  from  any  one.  The  following  are  the  names,  and 
\ve  give  them  a  place  in  our  little  history,  that  they  may  be 
more  safely  remembered  for  th^ir  heroic  services :  Gus. 
Wagner,  Jake  Dressel,  D.  C.  Kuerner,  Frank  Woodmansee, 
Harry  McLure,  Chris  Wincher,  Will  Kuerner,  George 
Kuerner,  Philip  Knabe,  Tom  and  Al  Martin,  Captain  Tom 
Duff,  Sam  Norton,  George  Reinacher,  Sam  Leonhart,  Mart. 
Douglass,  Ad.  Ebbert,  Tom  Kenny,  J.  M.  Belleville,  W.  F. 
Butler,  Jr.,  George  Dressel,  George  Humphries,  Hall  and 
Will  Sadler,  Harry  Young,  Captain  William  Dillon,  George 
Loos,  William  Lutz.  H.  P.  McGreger,  F.  C.  Darby,  Mike 
Crawford,  Charles  Hamilton,  G.  Naegel,  Henrv  Riester, 
Will  Jungling,  A.  A.  Franzheim,  Charlie  Rose.  Robert  B. 
Woods,  Will  Beans,  Wally  Lukins,  John  and  William  Arm- 
strong, Charlie  Clouston,  Tom  Wilson,  Fred  Huseman, 
Tappan,  Will  F.  Klett,  H.  D.  Dupke,  George  Clator,  Frank 
McNeil,  Henry  Merkle,  Superintendent  Lawson,  W.  C.  Wil- 
kinson. Perhaps  there  were  others,  whose  names  are  not 
there.  If  so,  we  are  sorry,  and  it  is  no  fault  of  ours.  We 
clip  the  following  from  the  Wheeling  Intelligencer,  which  at 
once  brings  to  the  mind  comprehensively  what  the  flood  of 
February,  1884,  did  for  Wheeling  and  vicinity : 

"  The  work  of  destruction  done  by  the  flood  exceeded  any  ever  experienced 
hereabouts  by  war,  fire  or  storm.  The  greatest  calamity  to  property  ever  re- 
corded before  was  a  mere  trifle  to  the  damage  and  loss  done  by  the  raging  flood. 
The  railroads  were  demoralized  and  travel  was  suspended.  Telegraph  and 
telephone  wires  were  thrown  down  and  broken,  and  the  poles  uprooted  and 
washed  away.  Fields  were  swept  bare  of  the  soil,  fences  were  carried  toward 
the  gulf,  outhouses  and  barns  demolished  or  swept  far  away,  and  houses  were 
overturned  or  floated  from  their  sites,  many  of  them  crushed  to  pieces,  and 
others  stranded  miles  from  their  former  locations.  Household  goods  of  all 
kinds  were  irretrievably  ruined,  to  say  nothing  of  the  damage  sustained  by 
mills,  factories  and  stores.  All  told,  the  loss  in  the  immediate  vicinity  of 
.  Wheeling  was  not  overestimated  by  the  Intelligencer  when  it  was  placed  early 
in  the  progress  of  the  flood  at  $6,000,000.  Many  houses  fell  or  were  torn  down 
to  prevent  a  disastrous  fall  after  the  flood  had  subsided." 


HISTORY    OF    THE    GKEAT    FLOOD    OF    1884.  15 

From  a  private  letter  to  us  from  Mr.  R.  Aleshire,  Jr.,  from 
"Wheeling,  we  make  the  following  extracts : 

"Al.  Martin  and  brother  rescued  from  the  Island,  or  Garden-Spot  of  Wheel- 
ing, so  called  here,  seventy  people,  working  day  and  night  gratuitously,  the 
thanks  of  those  rescued  being  sufficient  to  pay  them,  while  many  others  were 
•charging  exorbitant  rates,  merely  for  the  use  of  their  boats.  The  citizens  of 
Wheeling  have  raised  a  fund  for  the  purpose  of  buying  a  fine  watch  and  chain 
for  Captain  William  Prince,  for  very  valuable  services  in  saving  lives  and 
property  with  his  steamboat.  Quite  a  number  of  the  principal  business  mr n 
were  on  the  go  all  the  time,  night  and  day,  to  relieve  the  distressed.  The  fol- 
lowing deserve  honorable  mention:  Ed.  Larkin,  Jacob  Grubb,  A.  A.  Franziem, 
I.  C.  Alderson,  Alexander  Laughlin,  Alfred  Paull,  P.  B.  Dobbins  and  F.  Reis- 
ter.  These  and  many  others,  whose  names  I  do  not  know,  would  load  skiffs, 
wagons  and  steamboats  with  provisions,  which  they  would  deliver  in  person. 
Mr.  John  Schellhase,  mother,  two  sisters  and  brother,  Mrs.  Lashley,  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  C.  S.  Howell.  and  Mrs.  Sandrock  (grandmother  of  young  Schellhase), 
aged  eighty-five  years,  were  driven  to  the  roof  of  their  house  by  the  rising 
waters,  and  the  ladies  were  rescued  by  buckling  a  cartridge  belt  around  (hem, 
into  which  was  fastened  a  rope,  and  were  lowered  from  the  roof  of  the  building 
to  the  John-boats  below." 

At  Martin's  Ferry,  with  its  6,000  souls,  and  Bridgeport, 
•with  its  3,500,  the  situation  was  fully  as  bad  as  at  Wheeling, 
proportionately.  They  were  entirely  cut  off  from  Wheeling, 
except  by  means  of  boats.  At  Martin's  Ferry,  the  fires  of 
the  Laughlin  mill  were  put  out,  and  also  those  at  the  Buckeye 
and  Elson  glass  works.  All  the  space  between  Martin's 
Ferry  and  Bridgeport,  except  a  portion  of  ^Etnaville,  was  a 
rushing  river.  The  sight  from  the  Ohio  hills  here  is  said  to 
have  been  awful  in  its  destructive  grandeur.  It  was  literally 
a  sea  of  desolation.  The  amount  of  destruction  entailed  at 
Martin's  Ferry  is  estimated  at  $85,060,  and  at  Bridgeport  at 
$60,000.  After  the  subsidence  of  the  water  1,200  people  had 
to  be  cared  for  at  the  former  place,  and  200  families  at  the 
latter  place,  else  they  would  have  starved.  As  soon  as  the 
people  living  in  the  country  back  of  these  places  heard  of  the, 
distress,  they  responded  with  the  most  liberal  contributions. 
Committees  were  at  once  organized,  and  the  suffering  and 
distressed  were  promptly  relieved.  To  add  to  the  distressing 
situation  at  Bridgeport,  a  fire  broke  out  in  Wells  &  Dent's 
drug  store,  and  for  a  time  threatened  the  whole  town  with 
destruction.  George  GifFen's  grocery,  in  the  same  block,  was 
destroyed  with  the  drug  store.  The  loss  was  $18,000.  The 
fire  caught  from  the  explosion  of  chemicals  in  the  upper  story 


16  HISTORY   OF  THE   GREAT  FLOOD    OF  1884. 

of  the  drug  store,  where  a  vast  amount  of  goods  had  been 
stored,  to  be  out  of  reach  of  water. 

While  the  foregoing  was  the  state  of  affairs  up  to  10  o'clock 
on  the  night  of  the  yth  at  Wheeling  and  vicinity,  when  the 
water  came  to  a  halt,  what  were  the  raging  waters  doing  at 
other  points?  Let  us  take  a  peep  at  Wellsville,  and  the  little 
towns  and  villages  in  that  vicinity.  We  see  a  surging,  seeth- 
ing sea  of  water  sweeping  through  the  streets  of  Wellsville, 
from  one  end  to  the  other,  and  from  five  to  ten  feet  deep  at 
many  points.  In  that  portion  of  the  town  known  as  Toppet, 
the  water  in  many  places  was  fifteen  and  twenty  feet  deep. 
The  strength  of  the  current  was  so  great  as  to  carry  many 
houses  away  by  mere  force,  tearing  them  from  their  founda- 
tions like  cockle-shells,  turning  them  over,  and  either  mash- 
ing them  in  wreck  or  floating  them  so  far  away  as  to  be  almost 
total  losses.  The  river  reached  its  highest  point  here,  the 
highest  ever  before  known,  at  midnight  on  the  6th.  A  few 
hours  previous  to  that  the  scene  in  the  river  was  one  of  grand 
and  impressive  ruin.  There  was  a  constant  procession  of 
floating  property  passing,  valued  at  thousands  upon  thousands 
of  dollars — large  and  valuable  dwellings,  well-filled  stables 
and  barns,  smoke-houses,  granaries,  stupendous  oil  tanks — 
one  large  planing-mill,  intact,  and  filled  with  lumber,  being 
one  of  the  novelties  in  the  passing  tide  of  wrecked  wealth. 
That  night,  to  add  to  the  difficulties  of  the  situation  in  rescu- 
ing property,  the  gas  went  out,  by  reason  of  the  flood,  and, 
wrapped  in  total  darkness,  the  frightened  and  awe-stricken 
citizens  could  do  nothing  but  listen  to  whirling,  swirling  and 
hissing  waters,  trusting  to  an  almighty  providence  to  at  least 
save  their  lives  and  those  near  and  dear  to  them.  The  loss 
here  has  been  estimated  at  $100,000.  At  Hamilton,  West 
Virginia,  opposite  Wellsville,  the  citizens  were  already  out 
of  provisions,  the  water  up  to  the  second  story  in  nearly  ev- 
ery house,  and  the  situation  of  the  place  getting  well-nigh 
desperate,  when  relief  boats  came  to  their  assistance.  The 
,  track  of  the  C.  &  P.  R.  R.  between  Rochester  and  Bellaire 
was  mostly  under  water,  and  all  traffic  suspended.  The  lit- 
tle towns  of  East  Liverpool,  Industry  and  Smith's  Ferry  were 
in  a  terrible  plight.  At  Industry,  small  dwellings  were  lifted 
up  from  their  foundations  and  swept  down  stream,  the  occu- 
pants barely  escaping  with  their  lives. 

At  New  Cumberland  and  McCoy's,  Ohio,  an  awful  spec- 
tacle of  destruction  presented  itself  on  all  sides.  The  rich 
and  poor  had  suffered  together,  but  not  equally,  as  the  poor 


HISTORY    OF    THE    GREAT   FLOOD    OF   1884.  17 

were  reduced  to  a  point  where  they  had  nothing  with  which 
to  begin  life  anew.  The  savings  and  accumulations  of  years 
were  swept  away  as  with  a  breath.  Over  200  families  were 
rendered  homeless  in  that  neighborhood.  The  losses  in  these 
two  places  alone  footed  up  more  than  $50,000,  and  fell  most 
heavily  on  the  brick  manufacturers.  James  Stone's  loss,  at 
McCoy's,  was  above  $15,000.  With  water,  loss  is  loss — 
there  is  no  insurance  to  come  in  and  help  men  to  start  in; 
business  again.  The  men  engaged  in  active,  profitable  busi- 
ness along  the  Ohio  Valley  before  the  flood  who  will  never 
make  an  effort  to  build  up  again  may  be  counted  by  hun- 
dreds. 

One  of  the  worst  sufferers  among  the  little  towns  below 
Wheeling  was  Cochransville,  Monroe  County,  Ohio,  where 
out  of  forty-one  houses  but  two  were  left  to  tell  the  tale.  Her 
loss  is  put  at  $60,000  to  $75,000.  At  Fish'  Creek  there 
seemed  to  be  more  debris  for  some  reason  or  other  in  sight 
than  anywhere  along  the  river.  Eye  witnesses  describe  it  as 
remarkable.  The  river  would  at  times  appear  to  be  black 
with  floating  timbers,  hay,  fodder,  buildings  of  all  kinds,  and 
live  and  dead  stock  swimming  or  floating. 

At  Moundsville,  where  tJte  West  Virginia  Penitentiary  is 
located,  the  work  of  the  flood  was  to  be  seen,  but  Mounds- 
ville took  care  of  her  own.  About  twenty  families  were 
washed  out,  and  the  loss  was  about  $20,000.  The  large  sta- 
bles and  St.  Claude  Hotel  were  carried  about  500  yards,  and 
lodged  on  the  railroad  track.  Several  small  houses  were  also 
shifted  from  their  foundations  and  located  on  the  track,  and 
had  to  be  demolished. 

At  Bellaire,  the  situation  was  deplorable.  Her  loss  is  esti- 
mated at  near  $300,000.  At  least  250  buildings  were  swept 
away  or  damaged  beyond  repair.  The  water  reached  a  point 
four  feet  three  inches  above  1852,  and  three  feet  three  inches 
above  1832  on  Friday  night,  February  8th.  The  scene 
here,  when  the  water  was  at  its  height,  was  grand.  On  the 
bosom  of  the  resistless  tide  came  the  wealth  of  ruined  homes 
and  desolated  households  in  seemingly  endless  procession. 
Furniture,  bedding,  machinery,  barns,  bridges,  houses,  hay, 
straw,  boats,  everything  that  would  float,  came  crashing 
against  the  piers  of. the  bridge,  and  houses  and  factories,  car- 
rying with  them  almost  everything  they  struck.  A  part  of 
the  Bridgeport  and  Island  Bridge  came  crashing  down,  and 
struck  the  piers  and  ironwork  of  the  great  river  bridge  at  this 
point,  making  a  noise  like  distant  thunder,  jarring  and  shak- 


18  HISTORY   OF  THE   GRKAT   FLOOD    OF  1884. 

ing  the  immense  structure,  for  an  instant  threatening  its  over- 
throw, bnt  the  next  instant  yielding  to  the  tide  and  melting 
away,  a  shapeless  mass  of  moving  timber.  The  Bellaire 
Window  Glass  Works  lost  (estimated)  $12,000;  the  Union 
Glass  Works,  $8,000 ;  the  C.  &  P.  Railroad,  $25,000;  its 
passenger  coaches,  engines  and  cars  were  nearly  buried  in 
water,  and  a  large  amount  of  perishable  freight  in  the  depot 
and  cars  was  lost ;  the  river  tipple  at  the  Belmont  Coal 
Works,  with  several  houses,  was  carried  away  ;  loss,  $5,000  ; 
the  Crystal  Glass  Works  lost  $5,000,  the  -^Etna,  over  $10,- 
ooo ;  the  Baltimore  &  Ohio  road  lost  here,  it  is  supposed, 
$10,000;  the  Enterprise  Works,  $3,000;  the  National  Glass 
Works,  $5,000;  the  Ohio  Valley  Cement  Works,  $2,500; 
the  merchants  about  $15,000;  not  counting  the  damage  to 
household  goods.  The  houses  that  floated  offer  were  damaged 
could  not  be  replaced  for  $50,000.  The  Bellaire  Tribune  of 
February  13th,  five  days  after  the  water  had  begun  to  re- 
cede, said : 

"  The  most  vivid  imagination  and  the  most  brilliant  pen  can  not  fully  pic- 
ture the  terrible  effect  of  the  flood.  Now  that  the  waters  have  calmly  subsided 
within  their  channel  and  again  assumed  the  placid  flow  of  the  "  Beautiful  River,'1 
we  are  at  a  loss  for  words  to  describe  the  effects  of  their  mad  overflow.  The  ter- 
rible destruction  beggars  description.  Reflecting  men  who  have  thought  of  the 
havoc  and  tried  to  imagine  the  condition  produced,  when  they  look  upon  the 
results  at  once  agree  that  they  have  no  adequate  conception  of  it.  Great  mas- 
sive houses  tossed  from  their  foundations  and  left  overturned,  immense  piles  of 
manufactured  articles  and  raw  material  a  mass  of  ruin.  The  contents  of 
houses — piano  or  organ,  fine  furniture,  clothing,  dishes,  provisions  pans  and 
everything  in  the  house,  covered  to  the  depth  of  six  inches  with  filthy,  slimy 
mud — this  picture  multipled  500  times  within  the  limits  of  Bellaire  will 
describe  the  situation  a«  to  private  loss.  The  account  of  losses  heretofore  given 
as  sustained  may  be  a  little  high  as  to  one  or  two  establishments,  but  in  the  ag- 
gregate is  much  below  the  real  loss  sustained. 

"THE  DAMAGE  AT  BELLAIRE. — It  is  difficult  to  estimate  the  damage  done 
by  the  flood  in  Bellaire.  All  the  manufacturing  establishments,  except  the 
Belmont,  Lantern  Globe  and  Bottle  Glass  Works,  Bellaire  Stamping  Works 
and  Ohio  Lantern  Company,  have  suffered  very  heavy  damages.  The  coal 
works  upon  the  river  have  also  suffered  very  heavy  losses,  but  perhaps  the 
losses  to  real  estate  from  houses  destroyed  or  floated  off  and  otherwise  dam- 
aged, and  the  terrible  destruction  to  household  goods,  including  pianos,,  organs, 
fine  furniture,  carpets,  bedding,  clothing,  etc.,  will  greatly  exceed  the  losses  by 
the  factories.  The  aggregate  loss,  in  the  opinion  of  the  best  informed,  will  fall 
little,  if  any,  below  $300,000." 

Benwood,  a  town  of  2,500  inhabitants,  opposite   Bellaire, 


HISTORY    OF    THE    GREAT    FLOOD    OF   1884.  19 

suffered  terribly.  Her  manufacturing  establishments,  from 
which  nearly  all  of  her  people  obtained  their  living,  were  all 
flooded  out,  and  many  could  not  resume,  after  the  waters 
subsided,  for  weeks.  About  forty  families  were  rendered 
homeless,  and  after  the  flood  three-fourths  of  the  people  were 
in  absolute  want.  The  good  people  living  in  the  country 
back  of  Benwood,  Bellaire,  Bridgeport  and  Martin's  Ferry 
hauled  provision  from  as  far  back  as  points  twenty  miles  away, 
and  were  the  first  to  respond.  Not  less  than  20,000  people  be- 
tween Wellsburg  and  Moundsville  had  to  be  fed  and  clothed. 
Wellsburg  itself  was  entirely  submerged,  and  her  people  en- 
dured great  privations. 

At  Marietta  a  sad  scene  presents  itself.  This  is  the  oldest 
and  one  of  the  prettiest  and  most  flourishing  towns  on  the 
Ohio  River.  On  Wednesday,  February  6th,  at  three 
o'clock  P.  M.,  the  water  had  reached  a  height  of  thirty-eight 
and  a-half  feet,  and  was  rising  four  inches  an  hour.  Her 
business  men  and  citizens  generally  were  fully  alive  to  the 
situation,  and  having  been  forewarned  by  the  flood  of  1883, 
were  determined  to  meet  it  as  best  they  could,  without  pro- 
crastination, and  if  the  flood  failed  to  reach  expectations  of 
possibilities,  they  would  be  on  the  side  of  safety.  Every  man 
that  could  was  providing  himself  with  a  boat.  Merchants 
were  moving  and  storing  their  goods  in  places  not  reached 
by  the  flood  of  the  previous  year.  But,  alas  !  it  kept  coming 
with  a  slowr  and  steady  march,  and  far  more  invincible  than  an 
army  with  all  the  paraphernalia  of  war,  and  carrying  with  it 
far  more  destruction  to  the  accumulation  of  years  of  enter- 
prise and  toil.  Families  moved  to  higher  places  only  to  have  to 
move  the  second  time,  often  the  third  time,  and  in  some  cases 
the  fourth  time,  and  those  less  fortunate  and  unable  to  move 
saw  themselves  cut  off,  surrounded  and  engulfed  in  the  deluge. 
The  water  at  three  o'clock  Thursday  afternoon  was  register- 
ing over  fifty  feet  and  still  advancing.  The  wildest  scenes 
were  taking  place.  People  worked  as  they  never  did  before 
ill  through  Thursday  and  Thursday  night.  At  three  o'clock 
Friday  morning  one  span  of  the  Marietta  and  Harmar 
bridge  was  carried  away  by  a  large  floating  house  striking 
igainst  it  with  great  force.  The  balance  of  the  bridge  hung 
until  Saturday  night,  when  it  followed  suit.  The  railroad 
bridge  lodged  on  Blannerhasset's  Island,  the  county  bridge 
rive  miles  below,  and  the  draw-span  sfx  miles  below.  The 
Lowell  bridge  was  also  swept  away,  and  lodged  far  below. 
On  Friday,  the  8th,  the  water  had  traveled  up  Putnam 


20  HISTORY    OF    THE    GREAT    FLOOD    OF    1884. 

Street  to  Fourth,  and  filled  the  houses  all  along  the  street  to 
the  depth  of  between  four  and  five  feet.  Jenvy's  grocery, 
which  the  year  before  had  escaped,  had  now  from  eight  to 
nine  feet  of  water  in  it.  There  was  four  feet  of  water  on  the 
floors  of  her  court-house  and  jail.  The  court-room  upstairs 
was  filled  with  families  who  had  been  driven  from  their 
homes.  The  Cleveland  &  Marietta  trestle,  weighted  with 
freight  cars,  was  in  bad  shape,  and  the  cars  scattered  in  con- 
fusion. The  composing  and  engine  rooms  of  the  Leader 
office  were  both  upset.  The  lower  Front  Street  bridge  was 
raised  from  its  support.  The  doors  of  the  wharf-boat  were 
thrown  open  by  Mr.  Charles  Best,  and  a  large  amount  of 
property  taken  on  for  safety. 

The  steamboats  became  asylums  for  fugitives,  generously 
and  humanely  opening  their  cabins  to  all,  and  hundreds 
availed  themselves  of  the  privilege,  carrying  on  board  in 
many  cases  all  they  possessed.  All  the  churches  except  the 
Presbyterian  and  the  two  German  churches  were  caught  by 
the  water.  The  water  was  fourteen  feet  deep  in  the  street  in 
front  of  the  office  of  the  Marietta  Times ;  and  still  the  river 
advanced  until  9  o'clock  Saturday  morning,  February  pth, 
and  then  it  seemed  to  hesitate  and  ponder  on  whether  it 
should  again  take  up  the  line  of  march,  remain,  or  fall  back; 
and  there  it  stood  until  Sunda}*-,  the  loth,  and  actualty began 
to  rise  again.  Monday,  the  nth,  however,  it  took  up  the  line 
of  retreat,  and  gradually  withdrew  its  slimy  folds  from  the 
city.  The  highest  point  reached  was  fifty-two  feet  nine 
inches,  against  forty-three  feet  two  inches  in  1883,  and  three 
feet  one  inch  higher  than  in  1832.  On  Thursday  evening, 
February  7th,  it  reached  the  great  height  of  1832,  and,  sin- 
gularly, at  Gallipolis  it  did  the  same  thing.  Let  us  tarry 
awhile  at  Marietta,  regardless  of  the  date  at  the  head  of  this 
chapter,  and  look  about  us  during  the  flood  and  after  its  sub- 
sidence, for  nowhere  along  the  river,  perhaps,  than  at  Mari- 
etta and  in  its  vicinity  are  there  more  incidents  to  show  the 
variety  of  destruction  and  the  scenes  that  accompany  a  ter- 
rible flood  of  waters.  We  have  already  spoken  of  the  people 
being  quartered  in  the  court-room  of  the  court-house,  and  on 
the  steamboats  and  in  public  halls.  Some,  with  their  fami- 
lies, were  living  and  guarding  their  household  goods  on  coal 
tows.  Fifty  or  more  families  were  quartered  in  the  German 
Methodist  Church.  Every  public  building  in  the  city  was 
thrown  open  and  occupied.  There  were  no  mails  and  no 
telegraph  connection,  and  the  most  startling  and  exaggerated 


HISTORY    OF   THE    GREAT   FLOOD    OF    1884.  21 

stories  from  above  and  below  were  in  constant  circulation, 
adding  to  the  alarm  of  the  already  terror-stricken  people. 
Communication  was  cut  oft'  even  with  Parkersburg.  Nearly 
or  quite  all  of  Front  Street  had  their  valuables  on  the  house 
tops.  More  than  two-thirds  of  the  business  houses  on  this 
street  had  water  in  the  second  stories,  and  the  stocks  of  the 
stores  beneath,  consisting  of  all  kinds  of  merchandise,  such 
as  dry  goods,  boots,  shoes,  books,  stationery,  and  every  con- 
ceivable species  of  wares,  were  on  the  roofs.  It  was  a  scene 
fit  for  the  painter  of  "  The  Last  Man."  One-story  buildings 
that  had  been  fastened  so  that  they  could  not  float,  were  com- 
pletely under  water,  whose  depth  here  was  fourteen  feet.  A 
Nezvs  "Journal  correspondent  graphically  describes  the  situa- 
tion of  the  streets  as  follows : 

"  It  would  be  much  easier  to  tell  what  portions  of  the  city  escaped  the  water 
than  to  enumerate  the  submerged  districts,  but  it  would  scarcely  be  as  satisfac- 
tory. All  of  the  city  below  Butler  Street  was  flooded.  Front  Street  was  navi- 
gable from  end  to  end;  Second  Street  to  within  one-third  of  a  block  from 
Washington  Street.  Third  Street  was  in  the  same  situation.  Fourth  Street  was 
under  water  up  to  the  hill  on  Scammel  Street,  and  most  of  the  houses  on  the 
west  side  had  water  on  the  first  floor.  Putnam  Street  was  open  for  boats  for 
about  fifty  feet  above  Fourth  Street.  The  College  fence  had  about  twenty 
inches  of  water  over  it.  *  *  *  Passing  down  Front  Street  from 
Washington,  one  could  see  the  harm  wrought  by  the  water  on  either  side  of 
the  street.  Strauss  &  Elision's  mill  escaped  with  little  damage.  Below  it  one 
could  see  all  the  barns  and  outhouses  from  three  blocks  drifted  and  piled  to- 
gether by  a  whirling  eddy.  A  little  further  on  the  handsome  boat-house  lay  on 
its  side.  The  view  down  the  Muskingum  was  unobstructed  by  bridges.  Both 
structures  went  out  at  three  o'clock  Friday.  Friday  morning  all  that  was  left  ol 
the  county  bridge,  save  one  draw,  was  swept  off  and  moved  with  a  swift,  splendid 
motion  down  to  the  railroad  bridge.  It  struck  with  a  tremendous  crash,  and  a 
shower  of  sparks  shot  into  the  air  as  the  iron  of  the  two  bridges  and  the  cars  on 
the  lower  one  ground  together  and  melted  into  the  flood.  Rowing  on  down 
Front  Street,  one  saw  the  canal  bridges  hurled  from  their  fastenings  and  the 
half  dozen  buildings  attached  to  them  tilted  forward  at  a  dangerous  angle. 
Wittlig's  jewelry  store  and  McClaren's  gallery  were  torn  from  their  places 
The  front  of  Mason's  store  was  torn  out.  Down  in  "Texas"  the  sight  was 
appalling.  Dozens  of  houses  were  entirely  buried  under  the  water.  Whole 
families  escaped  with  their  lives.  Block  after  block  and  street  after  street 
show  not  a  single  house  unmoved  by  the  water.  The  number  of  houses  and 
other  outbuildings  that  were  overturned  could  not  be  counted  from  a  boat. 
Floating  barns  were  as  numerous  as  leaves  when  they  are  whirled  over  the  wa- 
ter by  the  winds  of  autumn." 

We  quote  further : 


22  HISTORY    OF   THE    GREAT   FLOOD    OF    1884. 

"  The  relief  commitlee  had  its  headquarters  in  the  College  dormitory,  and 
made  that  a  depot  of  supplies.  The  distributing  room  was  the  busiest  place  in 
the  town.  The  city  was  divided  into  districts,  and  two  boats  assigned  to  each 
district.  The  first  day  the  relief  boats  were  occupied  in  removing  people  from 
their  homes.  In  many  cases  whole  families  were  taken  from  the  highest  point 
on  the  roof,  where  they  had  been  driven  by  the  water.  Two  children  were 
drowned  in  the  lower  part  of  town.  One  poor  woman  was  taken  from  her 
bed  sick,  and  gave  birth  to  a  child  in  the  boat  before  land  was  reached.  Friday 
the  committee  furnished  food  for  600  people.  The  next  day  the  number  who 
were  unable  to  get  food  for  themselves  reached  1,000.  The  committee  sent 
men  to  every  house  on  the- hill  to  solicit  money  and  cooked  food.  The  can- 
vassers met  with  generous  and  prompt  responses.  People  gave  beyond  their 
means  in  many  cases.  *  *  *  The  town  is  coated  with  an  inch  of 
yellow  slime.  A  disordered  mass  of  drift,  barns,  boxes,  barrels,  furniture  and 
pianos  strew  the  streets.  Some  will  look  for  their  homes  and  look  in  vain. 
Hundreds  of  houses  will  not  be  inhabited  for  months.  The  Register  office 
was  fourteen  feet  under  the  water.  The  paper  did  not  get  out  at  all  last  Fri- 
day. It  was  printed  on  the  Zeitung  press  this  week.  The  telegraph  wires  be- 
tween here  and  Belpre  are  down  in  two  places.  There  has  been  no  telephone 
or  telegraphic  communication  since  last  Wednesday.  At  one  house  the  relief 
boat  which  was  sent  to  remove  the  family  found  them  all  stowed  in  the  attic. 
The  children  were  taken  out  and  the  boatmen  waited  thirty  minutes  for  the 
''young  lady  of  the  house,"  who  finally  sallied  out  when  the  water  began  to 
creep  over  the  floor,  dressed  in  her  best,  with  her  bangs  adjusted  and  a  heavy 
coat  of  powder  and  paint  on  her  face.  High  water  will  not  drown  vanity.  The 
Leader  office  was  almost  wholly  beneath  the  waves.  The  engine  room  and 
composing  room  were  overturned,  and  a  quantity  of  paper  stock  and  type  lost. 
The  outside  was  printed  on  Wednesday,  February  6th,  and  the  last  paper  was 
struck  off  just  as  the  rising  water  extinguished  the  fire  under  the  boiler.  The 
paper  was  printed  on  the  Zeitung  press  the  following  week.  At  the  foot  of 
Plum  Street,  on  the  east  side,  stood  Levy's  stable,  which  has  been  carried  by 
the  water  to  the  middle  of  the  street,  where  it  yesterday  rested  in  an  uneasy- 
position.  Between  Elm  and  Plum,  on  Third,  are  eighty-five  hogsheads  of  to- 
bacco and  many  tons  of  gas  and  water-pipe,  hauled  there  from  localities  that 
were  lower." 

The  great  losses,  as  usual,  fell  upon  those  least  able  to 
bear  them.  The  wealthy  merchants,  with  their  four-story 
buildings  of  brick  and  iron,.saved  almost  everything,  though 
a  few  of  the  rich  lost  heavily.  Among  them  may 
be  mentioned  Hon.  Thomas  W.  Moore,  of  Harmar, 
the  Phoenix  Mills,  George  Rice,  A.  Ducks  &  Com- 
pany, A.  W.  Tompkins,  G.  Meister,  Marietta  Chair 
Company,  all  above  $2,500  and  up  to  $10,000.  The  stores  of 
the  small  dealers,  the  small  homes,  the  small  shops  of  the 
mechanic,  the  new  beginners,  and  those  who,  after  a  life  of 


HISTORY    OF   THE    GREAT   FLOOD    OF   1884.  23 

toil,  had  saved  a  little  home,  were  those  who  mostly  found 
their  savings  swallowed  up  in  the  flood.  Four  hundred  build- 
ings constitute  quite  a  little  city.  These  many  were  either  float- 
ed off  or  removed  from  their  foundations.  The  wet  wheat  in 
the  elevator  at  the  Phoenix  Mills  swelled  until  it  broke  the 
large  iron  bolts  that  confined  it  as  though  they  were  but 
pieces  of  cotton  twine.  The  Baltimore  &  Ohio  Railroad 
bridge,  with  five  cars  of  valuable  merchandise,  was  lodged 
on  Blannerhassett's  Island.  The  company  will  rebuild  im- 
mediately. The  losses,  big  and  little,  direct  and  indirect, 
will  not  fall  short  of  half  a  million  dollars.  In  the  midst  of 
all  this  distress  and  destruction,  Marietta  had  some  big- 
hearted  people,  however,  that  were  willing  to  part  with  yet 
more  to  make  comfortable  those  that  were  homeless  and  des- 
titute. Gen.  A.  J.  Warner  threw  open  the  doors  of  his 
residence  to  the  multitude.  Douglas  Putnam  did  likewise, 
entertaining  and  feeding  all  that  could  get  in,  estimated  from 
125  to  200  persons,  and  giving  to  the  relief  fund  largely  be- 
sides. Capt.  Davis  took  on  board  of  his  steamer  150  persons. 
David  Putnam,  at  Harmar,  received  and  cared  for  eighty 
under  his  roof.  A  new  resident  of  the  place,  Mr.  H.  P. 
Whitney,  laid  down  fifty  dollars  on  the  altar,  and  500  bushels 
of  coal,  for  the  needy.  In  the  start,  something  like  3.000 
people  had  to  be  fed,  and  it  cost  some  money  to  give  them 
three  square  meals  a  day ;  but  it  was  done,  until,  day  by  day, 
the  number  dwindled  to  a  few  hundred.  In  the  midst  of  this 
great  calamity,  as  at  other  places,  there  -were  those  who  took 
advantage  of  the  excitement  and  confusion  to  impose  on  the 
committees  and  donors,  and  those  who  had  not  contributed  a 
cent  to  anybody  were  the  ones  who  raised  the  greatest  com- 
plaint over  it,  and  so  it  will  ever  be ;  but  the  warm-hearted 
charity  that  finds  an  abiding  place  in  the  great  American 
heart  can  never  be  stifled  in  time  of  great  calamity  or  need  by 
the  cry  of  the  croaking  craven,  that  somebody  got  a  loaf  of 
bread  or  a  pound  of  meat  that  could  have  gotten  along  with- 
out it. 

But  let  us  take  a  view  of  Harmar,  just  across  the  Mus- 
kingum.  The  water  reached  it§  highest  point  here  Saturday 
morning  early,  February  pth,  five  days,  be  it  remembered, 
before  it  reached  its  highest  point  at  Cincinnati.  The  depth, 
or  height,  reached  was  about  the  same  as  at  Marietta.  Al- 
most the  entire  population  of  Harmar  was  driven  out,  and 
Harmar  Hill  was  crowded  with  people,  camping  out  in  tents 
or  in  the  open  air,  wagons,  box-cars  and  shanties  of  every 


34  HISTORY    OF    THE    GREAT   FLOOD    OF    1884. 

conceivable  architecture  serving  to  shelter  them  from  a  cold, 
driving  rain.  The  mayor  of  Harmarwas  with  the  rest,  camped 
in  a  board  shanty,  out  on  the  hill.  Some  had  all  their  earthly 
possessions  on  flat-boats.  But  six  out  of  all  the  houses  in  the 
place  were  out  of  water,  and  communication  from  one  point  to 
another  was  very  difficult.  Owing  to  the  swiftness  of  the 
current,  it  was  only  by  the  exercise  of  the  greatest  labor  that 
a  skiff  could  be  rowed  through  the  streets.  Only  thirty 
houses  were  not  flooded  in  the  second  story.  All  the  business 
houses  had  water  on  their  second  floors,  and  the  merchants 
lost  much  more  than  those  of  Marietta.  Fifty  buildings 
floated  away,  and  a  great  many  were  lifted  from  their  foun- 
dations. This  was  a  horrid  state  of  affairs  ior  a  happy,  pros- 
perous little  city,  as  Harmar  was  known  far  and  near  to  be ; 
and  no  one,  surrounded  with  the  comforts  of  home,  can  re- 
alize it  unless  he  had  been  subjected  to  the  same  bitter  ex- 
periences. Harmer  has  only  a  population  of  2,000,  but  when 
you  find  nine-tenths  of  that  2,000  out  of  their  homes,  and  quar- 
tered here  and  there,  on  friends,  back  on  the  hills,  in  the 
country,  in  tents,  in  shanties  made  of  fence-rails  and  brush, 
with  but  an  old  quilt  or  blanket  to  cover  them  from  a  pitiless 
rain  of  twenty-four  hours'  intermittent  duration,  then  Harmar 
that  was  looks  indeed  desolate  and  distressed. 

There  are  persons  who  cannot  believe  but  that  these  things 
are  exaggerated,  and  that  the  situation  was  not  quite  so  bad  ; 
but  facts  are  facts,  and  there  is  not  a  tongue  or  pen  that  can 
begin  to  tell  what  the  people  of  this  Valley  endured  in  that 
great  flood.  When  the  flood  was  at  its  highest,  a  relief-boat 
was  sent  up  the  river  trom  Gallipolis  to  take  provisions  and 
clothing  to  the  washed-out  all  along,  as  far  up  as  Pomeroy. 
[We  are  going  to  speak  more  particularly  of  this  by  and  by. 
We  only  want  now  to  give  an  illustration  of  what  some  folks 
call  "  exaggeration."]  A  relief  committee  was  on  the  boat, 
composed  of  the  first  citizens  of  Gallipolis,  and  gentlemen 
who  went  to  see  for  themselves,  and  get  the  solid  facts.  On 
their  return  they  invited  newspaper  correspondents  and 
others  to  meet  with  them  and  hear  their  report.  One  of  the 
most  reputable,  as  well  as  on'e  of  the  most  prominent,  citizens 
of  the  place,  Mr.  C.  Fred.  Henking,  arose  and  said,  almost  in 
the  following  language:  "  Gentlemen,  I  can't  undertake  to 
describe  the  situation.  I  thought  I  had  read  full  descriptions  of 
these  flooded  towns  and  this  desolating  river,  but  I  had  no 
conception  of  the  situation  until  my  visit  to  Pomeroy,  this  after- 
noon. Almost  everywhere  above  Gallipolis  the  river  reaches 


HISTORY    OF   THE    GREAT    FLOOD    OF    1884.  25 

from  hill  to  hill.  In  many  places  the  people  are  camped  upon 
the  hills.  We  saw  them  on  the  hills  back  of  Pomeroy,  and  at 
several  other  places,  and  suppose  that  between  here  and  there, 
there  are  not  less,  right  now,  than  5,000  people  out  in  this  ter- 
rible rain.  [It  had  been  pouring  down  incessantly  for  twenty- 
four  hours.]  We  must  do  something,  and  do  it  .quickly,  lor 
these  people.  Provisions  are  now  short  in  Pomeroy,  and  those 
that  are  now  dividing  will  soon  be  out,  and  probably  by  the  last 
of  this  week  there  will  be  10,000  people  actually  enduring  a 
famine  if  not  assisted."  The  newspaper  correspondents  took 
it  up,  and  the  people  took  it  up,  and  it  was  wired  and  heralded 
to  the  whole  State  that  night,  and  there  were  actually  pro- 
visions, clothing  and  blankets  atGallipolis  within  twenty-four 
hours,  from  the  interior  of  the  State,  and  on  to  Pomeroy  and 
between,  that  night,  and  they  kept  coming  like  an  avalanche, 
and  there  was  hardly  any  danger  of  too  much  coming.  All 
at  once  some  one  at  Pomeroy,  who  was  so  stupid  and  stolid, 
in  all  probability,  as  never  to  have  left  his  own  snug  quar- 
ters, began  to  get  jealous  of  the  help  the  people  were  getting, 
and  began  writing  letters  and  telegraphing  to  the  newspa- 
pers that  accounts  were  greatly  exaggerated  by  Pomeroy's 
friends,  down  below ;  that  she  didn't  need  anything  more, 
etc.,  etc.  Here  was  the  "one"  among  10,000,  and  alto- 
gether lovely,  that  was  afraid  of"  exaggeration." 

We  say  bo  the  reader  that  he  can  never,  from  any  source, 
get  the  details  of  the  flood  of  1884  in  the  Ohio  Valley.  It  is 
like  describing  a  ten  days'  battle  from  beginning  to  end  by 
one  man.  To  stand  here  at  Harmar,  Marietta,  Parkersburg, 
Williamstown  and  Belpre,  all  adjacent  towns,  and  look  to- 
wards Pittsburgh  and  Allegheny,  taking  in  Lower  Newport, 
Upper  Newport,  St.  Mary's,  Grape  Island,  Bayardsville, 
Wade  Postoffice,  Long  Reach,  Murraysville,  Sistersville, 
Centre  View,  Witten's,  Sardis,  New  Martinsburg,  Raven's 
Rock,  Proctor.  Pine  Run,  Clarington,  Woodland,  Powhat- 
tan.  Blairsville,  Businessburg,  Cochrunsville,  Grand  View, 
Weegee,  Bellaire,  Benwood,  Wheeling,  Bridgeport,  Mar- 
tin's Ferry,  Corkville.  Portland  Station,  Warrington,  Rush 
Run,  Wellsburgh.  Brilliant,  Mingo  Junction,  Steuberiville, 
Brown's,  Jeddo,  Torrento,  Calumet,  Elliottsville,  McCov's 
Station,  Port  Homer,  Linton,  Yellow  Creek,  Wellsville, 
East  Liverpool.  Smith's  Ferry,  Industry,  Baker,  Freedom, 
and  countless  other  small  villages  and  railroad  stations  clear 
on  to  Pittsburgh,  and  consider  that  at  every  one  of  these 
points  there  was  a  week's  battle  with  this  great  flood  of  wa- 


26  HISTORY    OF   THE    GREAT   FLOOD    OF    1884. 

ters,  not  only  for  property,  but  oftentimes  for  life  itself,  and 
talk  of  exaggeration  of  this  great  calamity  in  the  Ohio  Val- 
ley is  preposterous.  Without  turning  our  eyes  toward  the 
gulf  from  here,  there  is  material  of  disaster,  accident  and  loss 
sufficient  for  volumes  of  naked  facts  without  the  slightest  em- 
bellishment. An  eye  witness,  who  had  before  been  a  doubt- 
ing Thomas,  and  would  not  believe  except  he  saw  the  print 
of  the  nails,  and  put  his  ringer  into  the  print  of  the  nails,  and 
thrust  his  finger  into  the  side,  boarded  a  relief  boat  at  Pitts- 
burgh, and  came  down  the  river,  and  this  is  what  he  says  : 

"The  valley  between  Steubenville  and  Wheeling  is  indeed  a  magnificent  one, 
but  to-day  it  presents  a  melancholy  spectacle.  The  fertile  fields  are  the  bottom 
of  the  river.  The  water  has  gone  out  into  the  woods,  carrying  with  it  and 
lodging  there  a  miscellaneous  assortment  of  debris.  In  the  branches  of  the 
trees  straw,  rubbish  and  wreck  of  every  description  is  hanging.  In  many  places 
the  telegraph  poles  were  lying  flat.  All  the  fences  adjacent  to  the  river  have 
disappeared.  Logs,  lumber,  coal-flats  and  barges  have  drifted  out  into  the  corn- 
fields and  meadows. 

"  Probably  the  most  distressing  picture  was  at  Warren,  Jefferson  County, 
Ohio.  This  little  town  of  probably  300  inhabitants  is  a  total  wreck.  Thirteen 
of  the  few  houses  there  before  the  flood  have  entirely  disappeared.  Others  are 
twisted  off  their  foundations.  There  is  not  one  in  the  village  with  a  window  in 
it.  The  only  brick  house  in  the  place  is  an  absolute  wreck.  Rubbish  of  every 
description  has  been  washed  to  the  front  doors  of  the,  dwellings.  Everything 
indicated  misery  and  distress. 

"Just  below  where  the  town  once  stood,  a  coffin  and  a  wheelbarrow  were 
clinging  to  the  topmost  branches  of  an  ordinary-sized  tree.  There  were  no 
visible  signs  of  death  in  the  immediate  vicinity,  but  a  few  hundred  yards  further 
down  the  river  a  desolate-looking  graveyard  had  been  made  the  receptacle  for 
trees,  railroad  ties  and  telegraph  poles.  It  is  not  known  whether  the  coffin  was 
swept  from  that  desolate  spot,  or  whether  the  people  in  that  section  had  adopt- 
ed the  old  Indian  custom  of  burying  the  dead  in  tree  tops." 

Not  onlv  did  this  wide,  sweeping  body  of  water  attack  the 
towns  and"  the  railways  and  the  bridges,  but  oftentimes  you 
will  see  that  from  hill  to  hill,  a  distance — varying  according 
to  the  width  of  the  bottoms — of  from  one  to  four  and  five 
miles,  everything  swept  bare  of  fences,  corn,  fodder,  hay, 
straw,  outbuildings,  barns  and  stables,  besides  carriages, 
wagons,  agricultural  machinery,  and  everything  that  water 
could  bear  upon  its  bosom.  Here  and  there,  owing  to  some 
peculiar  bend  or  turn  in  the  torrent,  the  debris  of  buildings, 
barges,  coal  tipples,  freight  cars,  bridges,  stores,  shops  and 
rafts  of  logs,  lumber,  staves,  shingles,  hoop-poles,  gunwales, 


HISTORY    OF   THE    GREAT    FLOOD    OF    1884.  2T 

skiffs,  John-boats,  barrels,  tierces,  kegs,  straw-ricks,  hay- 
stacks, and  things  too  numerous  to  mention,  would  be  found 
spread  over  some  man's  fine  bottom  farm,  and  although  re- 
presenting an  independent  fortune  in  themselves,  utterly 
worthless,  buried  in  mud,  and  piled  and  tangled  and  twisted 
among  each  other  to  such  an  extent  that  to  get  them  out  and 
haul  them  to  where  they  could  be  shipped  would  require  an 
army  of  men  and  teams  for  weeks,  and  entirely  consume 
what  little  value  they  now  possessed.  So  it  is  loss — dead 
loss — that  will  require  a  long  season  of  prosperity  to  replace. 
The  $500,000  of  Congressional  appropriation,  and  the  $200,- 
ooo  of  Ohio  State  appropriation,  and  the  $100,000  of  Ken- 
tucky State  appropriation,  and  the  appropriations  of  all  the 
towns  and  cities,  and  all  the  generous  donations  of  the  peo- 
ple of  all  the  States  in  food,  clothing,  bedding,  tenting,  etc., 
will  not  pay  the  losses  for  100  miles  below  Pittsburgh  in  this 
long  one-thousand-mile  stretch  of  devastation  and  ruin.  If 
the  roll  could  be  called  of  all  those  living  between  Parkers- 
burg  and  Pittsburgh  who,  oh  the  first  day  of  February,  1884, 
were  worth  from  $500  to  $2,500,  and  who,  in  the  short  space 
of  seven  days,  had  been  made  penniless  by  this  flood,  it  would 
be  a  terrible  disaster  alone.  Across  the  river  from  Marietta 
and  Harmar  lies  the  little  town  of  Williamstown,  which  was 
flooded  to  the  depth  of  about  eight  feet.  Both  towns  were 
literally  gutted  by  the  swift  currents.  Several  houses  were 
carried  away.  The  citizens  moved  to  the  flat  back  of  the 
town  and  were  well  cared  for,  but  many  lost  their  household 
goods.  When  the  relief  boat  first  visited  them,  only  one  man 
came  to  meet  them.  Powhattan,  a  village  of  500  people,  thirty 
miles  below  Moundsville,  was  one  of  the  great  sufferers,  not 
a  single  inhabitant  escaping  loss  and  inconvenience.  They 
were  overjoyed  when  the  relief  boat  met  them,  and  were  full 
to  overflowing  with  gratefulness.  Nowhere  along  the  river, 
perhaps,  were  they  in  greater  need.  Bayardsville,  eight  miles 
below  Powhattan,  was  washed  out,  and  most  of  the  people 
were  compelled  to  resort  to  temporary  sheds  for  protection 
from  the  weather.  In  all  of  these  small  towns  and  villages, 
especially  those  cut  oft*  from  railroad  connection,  the  distress 
was  much  greater  and  the  losses  fell  more  severely  than  in 
the  larger  and  more  prosperous  places,  where  the  well-to-do 
element,  uniting  with  those  who  escaped  the  visitation  of  the 
water,  took  care  and  gave  assistance  to  those  who  suffered. 
New  Martinsville,  a  place  of  300  families,  was  a  great  suf- 
ferer. Not  a  family  escaped  loss,  and  about  100  families 


28  HISTORY    OF   THE    GREAT    FLOOD    OF    1884. 

were  made  desolate.  The  river  not  only  swept  the  town  sev- 
eral feet  deep,  but  stretched  back  toward  the  interior  as  far 
as  the  eye  could  reach.  Cut  oft",  and  like  an  island  surround- 
ed with  water,  their  situation  can  better  be  imagined  than  de- 
scribed. The  loss  here  is  estimated  at  $125,000.  Sisters- 
ville  was  in,  if  anything,  a  worse  condition.  It  presented  the 
appearance  of  a  huge  drift  pile,  and  indeed  thousands  of  dol- 
lars' worth  of  property  gathered  here,  though  When  moved 
from  where  it  belonged  and  served  a  purpose,  was  of  little 
value.  Matamoras,  like  Gallipolis,  was  "high  and  dry," 
and  performed  the  same  mission  of  feeding  and  transporting 
food  to  her  suffering  neighbors. 

But  let  us  now  look  down  the  river  ten  or  twelve  miles  to 
Parkersburg  and  Belpre : 

Parkersburg  is  on  the  West  Virginia  shore,  a  city  of  about 
10,000  inhabitants.  The  Little  Kanawha  empties  into  the 
Ohio  here.  Belpre  is  an  Ohio  town,  just  opposite.  At 
Parkersburg  the  river  reached  a  height  of  fifty-four  feet. 
One  hundred  thousand  dollars  will  cover  her  losses,  though 
they  were  estimated  before  the  fall  of  the  water  at  not  less 
than  three-quarters  of  a  million.  The  water  reached  Pax- 
ton's  store,  just  above  the  market  house,  on  Market  Street. 
It  was  all  around  the  M.  E.  Church,  parsonage,  and  custom 
house.  All  the  small  houses  on  the  low  grounds  are  upset  or 
gone.  Governor  Jackson's  stable,  at  the  Jackson  homestead, 
was  lodged  against  the  Star  foundry,  and  the  water  was  two 
feet  deep  on  the  floor  of  the  homestead.  The  water  was  all 
along  the  Cook  road  up  to  the  pottery.  All  the  stores  on 
Court  and  Market  Streets  were  invaded.  The  walls  of  sev- 
eral buildings  fell  out.  The  Ohio  Pulp  Mill  lost  everything 
that  would  float.  Those  that  lost  in  the  hundreds,  ranging 
from  $100  to  $1,000,  were  as  follows:  F.  Jenkins  &  Son, 
Shattuck  &  Johnson,  C.  A.  Moss,  Vaughn  &  McKinney,  S. 

E.  Kuykendall,    M.  S.  Thanhouser,  J.  W.  Mather,  j".   H. 
Leed,  Caroline  Bohler,  Mullen  Bros.,  L.  P.  Neale,  F.  Nelly, 
Mrs.  L.  J.  Heinsfurter,  Mrs.  Annie  Maloney,  Cunningham 
&  Sutton,  R.  B.  Taylor,  W.  L.  Logan  &   Co.,  Logan  Car- 
riage Co.,  Smith's  China  Palace,  Ralph   Covert,  Mitchell, 
Stevenson   &  Dunbar,  Chas.  Rauch,  H.  Weinberg,  I.  W. 
Dils  &  Sons,  W.  J.  Hill,  T.  R.  Leonard,  E.  A.  Ingersoll,  T. 
B.  Clark,  T.  Nelly,  I.  H.  Anderson,  M.  Egan,  Matt.  Ward, 
W.  H.  Neale,  Jno.  Gibson,  Jr.,  Jno.  Powell,  I.  A.  Moosman, 

F.  M.    Morninger,   J.    Figdor,    I.  Wetheral  &  Son,  I.  M. 
Heinsfurter,  Eagle  Mills,  J.  Wagner,  G.  E.  Smith,  E.  Brai- 


HISTORY    OF   THE    GREAT    FLOOD    OF    1884.  29 

don,  Isaac  Prager,  W.  H.  Broyvn,  A.  Hunter  Smith,  W.  H. 
Smith,  Jr.,  &  Co.,  Second  National  Bank,  Als'  Central  Ho- 
tel. C.  &  H.  Witman,  C.  C.  Martin,  L.  Nathan,  W.  S.  Cas- 
well,  Wood  County  Jail,  Gibben's  Bindery,  Jacob  Selig,  F. 
Stahlman,  T.  I.  Boreman,  J.  L.  Gilbert  &  Co.,  A.  B.  Smith, 
Stevenson  &  Wade,  D.  S.  Plumb,  John  Busch,  J.  Good.  Tom 
Rowland,  L.  B.  Kirby,  Thos.  Dolan,  W.  N.  Chancellor, 
Chas.  Porter,  W.  H.  Bush,  W.  H.  Hunter,  Those  that  lost 
$  1,000  and  under  $2,000  are  as  follows  :  T.  E.  Saunders  & 
Son,  R.  G.  Caldwell,  Keller  Bros.,  L.  L.  Hall,  James  Hunt- 
er, Swann  House,  A.  R.  Kennedy,  The  Sweetser  Oil  Co., 
Chas.  Gambrill.  Other  losses  were  as  follows:  Jack 
Harne,  $4,000;  Frank  Rex,  $5,000;  Dudley  Bros.  (Neall 
Island,  etc.),  $3,000;  Gibbens  estate,  $2,000:  G.  R.  Shaw 
&  Co.'s  tannery,  $5,000  ;  Jeff.  Tracewell,  unestimated  ;  Nov- 
elty Mill,  $10,000;  Parkersburg  Mill  Co.,  $15,000;  the 
Commercial  Oil  Co.,  unestimated.  The  losses  below  $100 
are  very  numerous.  The  Ohio  River  Railroad  had  about  all 
itstrestling  washed  out,  and  there  were  some  bad  land-slides  ; 
but  every  bridge  was  found  to  be  all  right  when  the  water 
went  down,  and  having  secured  a  great  deal  of  the  rolling 
stock  lost,  their  losses  dwindled  down  to  half  what  they  ex- 
pected. $75,000  or  $100,000  will  make  them  solid  as  ever. 
She  came  out  of  the  flood  in  very  good  shape. 

Belpre  did  not  fare  so  well.  At  the  maximum  of  the  waters 
she  presented  a  fearful  picture  of  ruin  and  desolation — a  whole 
section  of  the  town  carried  away,  her  people  massed  in  the 
churches — the  stores,  flouring  mills,  pump  factory,  and  about 
fifty  dwellings  washed  away — she  had  anything  but  a  smiling, 
prosperous  face.  One  hundred  thousand  dollars  will  cover 
losses,  but  it  makes  a  far  greater  showing  in  Belpre  than 
$100,000  in  Parkersburg,  and  $100,000  is  not  a  small  amount 
of  money.  Think  of  it !  It  would  accomplish  what  100.000 
laborers  could  perform  in  one  day  at  $i  each.  The  scenes 
that  ensued  in  Belpre  were  much  the  same  as  seen  all  along 
for  about  200  miles  as  the  flood  progressed.  Some  fine  build- 
ings would  burst  and  come  down  with  a  crash  ;  some  were 
weaving  like  a  drunken  man  ;  some  snapping  the  cables  that 
held  them,  like  so  many  threads  ;  merchants  moving,  and 
piling  their  stocks  again  a  little  higher,  as  the  waters  en- 
croached ;  the  gravel  approaches  to  the  railroad  slipping  and 
sliding  out ;  the  bank  caving  off  here  and  there  ;  some  of  the 
citizens  trying  to  organize  relief  committees,  with  nothing  tc 
distribute.  The  water  reached  its  highest  point  on  the  morn- 


30  HISTORY    OF    THE    GREAT    FLOOD    OF   1884. 

ing  of  the  9th,  at  six  o'clock,  three  feet  two  inches  above  1 832. 
It  only  left  about  fifteen  acres  of  Belpre  and  Blannerhasset, 
an  addition  to  Belpre,  out  of  water.  The  following  is  an 
estimate  of  her  losses  to  business  men : 

H.  Gettle,  feed  and  groceries,  $500  ;  Mrs.  Robb,  saloon,  $1,000  to  $1,100  ; 
Bosworth  &  Oneal,  $50010  $700  ;  Thomas  Harkins,  coal  dealer,  grist-mill,  and 
John  Gilchrist,  tailor,  $80  in  cash  and  $100  in  stock  ;  blacksmith  shop,  $2,000  ; 
T.  H.  Coksey,  $100  ;  Caswell  &  Oneal  $8,000  to  $10,000;  N.  B.  Adams, 
drugs,  $3,000 ;  J.  M.  Stone,  groceries  and  queensware,  $500  to  $800 ;  C.  A. 
Brown  &  Son,  groceries  and  books,  $1,000  ;  J.  Alderman,  dry  goods,  $3,000  to 
$3,500  ;  William  Hill,  shoe-shop,  $150  ;  Downer  Bros.,  shoe-shop,  $125  ;  Hawk 
Bros.,  meat  market,  $490  ;  Carmi  Smith,  hotel  and  livery-stable,  over  $5,000  ; 
Guthrie  Bros.,  drugs,  $2,000  ;  O.  L.  Davis,  hardware,  $600  to  $800  ;  A.  8. 
Combs,  drugs,  $850 ;  S.  M.Taylor,  barber,  $150;  L.  E.  Stone,  flouring  and 
planing  mill,  $13,000;  Buckeye  Pump-Works,  $4,000  to  $5,000  ;  Jas.  Cordner, 
woolen-mills,  $500  ;  H.Jones,  blacksmith,  $250.  No  estimate  has  yet  been  put 
•n  losses  of  buildings  and  household  goods. 

The  pump  works  of  A.  W.  Glazier  floated  off  full  of  pumps. 
Many  were  gathered  up  along  down  the  river  below  Galli- 
polis,  where  they  were  found  piled  up  on  the  banks.  Belpre 
was  kindly  cared  for,  and  her  sad  situation  soon  relieved,  but 
the  trials  she  passed  through  will  not  soon  be  forgotten. 

What  we  have  related  has  carried  us  only  up' to  the  9th  of 
February.  Let  us  go  back  one  day  now,  to 

FEBRUARY  8, 

and  see  what  is  going  on  along  the  tributaries  of  this  "Beauti- 
ful River,",  to  which  our  sweetest  bards  and  most  eloquent  his- 
torians have  paid  homage  when  it  was  in  a  milder  and  more 
gentle  mood,  carrying  upon  its  amiable  bosom  the  products 
of  peace,  thrift,  and  enterprising  industry. 

Beginning  at  Pittsburgh  we  will  enumerate  its  principle 
tributaries  on  both  sides,  and  we  can  have  a  better  idea  of 
where  those  mighty  volumes  of  water  came  from,  in  the  first 
place  being  careful  to  remember  that  the  great  falls  of  snow 
in  January  covered  the  great  Central  States  from  the  tops  of  the 
Alleghenies  to  the  Mississippi ;  that  the  snow  was  in  the  last 
days  of  January  and  the  first  of  February,  supplemented 
with  thawing  weather  and  incessant  rains,  letting  loose  the 
great  reservoirs  of  all  the  rivers  of  Western  Pennsylvania  and 
West  Virginia,  making  the  Monongahela,  Youghiogheny 
and  Allegheny  a  sweeping  flood  at  the  same  moment  that 
every  tributary  for  a  thousand  miles  of  the  Ohio  River  was 


HISTORY    OF   THE    GREAT   FLOOD    OF    1884.  31 

in  the  same  condition.  On  the  north  were  the  Beaver,  Sun- 
fish,  Tuscarawas,  Little  Muskingum,  Muskingum,  Little 
and  Big  Hockhocking,  Scioto,  Little  Miami,  Miami,  and 
W abash.  On  the  South  were  the  Little  Kanawha,  Kanawha, 
Big  Sandy,  Licking,  Kentucky,  Cumberland,  and  Tennessee, 
besides  numerous  large  streams  not  dignified  with  the  names 
of  rivers,  and  yet  great  feeders  of  the  Ohio,  all  full  or  over- 
flowing from  the  same  causes  as  were  the  head-waters,  and 
all  flowing  into  the  Ohio  between  Pittsburgh  and  Cairo.  In 
consequence,  all  the  river  bottoms  and  towns  in  the  interior 
of  Ohio,  and  some  in  Indiana,  were  undergoing  the  same 
trials  as  were  being  experienced  by  the  farmers  and  towns 
people  along  the  Ohio.  Huntington,  West  Virginia  ;  Evans- 
ville,  Indiana  ;  Bellefontaine,  Urbana,  Mt.  Vernon,  Youngs- 
town,  Delaware,  Zanesville,  New  Comerstown,  Coshocton, 
Franklinton  (a  suburb  of  Columbus),  Dayton,  Nelsonville, 
Logan,  Greenfield,  Batavia,  Plainville,  Loveland,  Miami- 
ville,  Milford,  Monroe,  Middletown,  Canal  Dover,  Navarre, 
Bremen,  Van  Wert,  and  many  other  places,  were  all  partially 
or  totally  submerged,  rising  with  dripping  garments,  or  about 
to  plunge  into  the  icy  waves.  Pikes,  railroads  and  bridges 
were  overflowed,  bottom  lands  swept  bare,  and  fences,  hay, 
corn,  fodder,  straw,  and  small  buildings  carried  off  in  much 
the  same  way  as  on  the  Ohio,  where  the  water  rolled  not  as  a 
river,  but  as  an  ocean,  sometimes  five  and  six  miles  wide,  and 
backing  into  outlets  oft*  the  river  in  a  few  cases  as  far  as 
twenty  miles,  overflowing  the  banks  of  creeks,  and  doing  in- 
calculable damage.  In  the  Kanawha  River  the  water  backed 
to  within  about  ten  miles  of  Charleston,  a  distance  of  fifty  miles. 
These  people  in  the  interior  were  also  seeing  some  of  the 
horrors  attendant  upon  the  flood  of  the  Ohio,  in  being  driven 
from  their  homes  and  crowding  into  narrow  quarters,  often- 
times as  many  as  twenty-five  persons  in  a  room,  though  they 
were  happy  in  not  having  to  endure  such  miseries  for  so  long 
a  period  of  time.  There  were  instances  along  the  Ohio 
where  people  were  huddled  together  in  this  way  for  ten  long 
days  and  nights,  with  no  egress  or  ingress  to  their  narrow 
quarters  save  with  a  skiff  or  boat,  the  sick,  hungry,  aged  and 
infirm — mothers  with  infants  at  their  breasts — confinements, 
deaths,  toddling  little  ones,  that  were  in  constant  danger  of 
accident,  requiring  unceasing  attention,  and  countless  mis- 
eries that  even  half  that  were  flooded  could  not  realize  ;  so 
many  different  degrees  of  misery  are  there  that  many  be- 
carm  happy  and  jubilant  even  bv  comparison  ;  even  those  not 


32  HISTORY    OF    TIIK    GREAT    FLOOD    OF    1884. 

ill  knew  nothing  of  the  horrors  of  the  flood  compared  with 
those  that  were  racked  with  pain,  and  unable  to  get  medi- 
cal attendance  or  remedies  for  their  troubles.  The  hor- 
rors of  those  that  went  through  those  anxious  nights  of 
storm  and  flood  could  hardly  be  exceeded  by. any  circum- 
stances that  might  arise  in  this  life.  There  are  many 
small  towns  and  villages  along  the  river  that  were  so 
covered  with  debris  after  the  flood,  and  so  many  houses 
swept  away,  that  lot-owners  could  not  tell  where  their 
own  lots  were.  Take  the  little  town  of  Cochransville,  before 
alluded  to:  It  is,  or  was  (for  it  is  no  more),  located  on  a 
beautiful  site.  It  was  the  market  town  and  shipping  point 
for  a  large  section  of  adjacent  country.  It  contained  forty- 
two  houses  ;  forty  are  gone  ;  the  one  dwelling  that  was  left  at 
last  accounts  had  four  families  in  it,  and  the  little  frame 
church  that  had  been  spared  had  three  families  in  it,  each 
family  with  a  bed  on  the  floor.  The  water  had  been  up  to 
the  ceiling  of  the  church,  and  what  kept  it  from  floating  off 
is  a  mystery.  The  straw  still  hangs  from  the  chandeliers. 
Some  of  the  mottoes  used  at  their  last  Christmas  festival  still 
adorn  the  walls.  "  Welcome,"  and  "In  God  we  trust,"  still 
hang  behind  the  pulpit.  All  the  families  save  those  men- 
tioned above  have  gone  entirely  away  and  may  never  return. 
The  town  is  a  drift  pile  of  logs,  brush  and  refuse. 
Let  us  now,  on  Saturday, 

FEBRUARY  9, 

turn  our  face  down  the  river.  Blannerhassett's  Island  was 
overflowed,  but  caught  a  great  many  of  the  wrecks,  and  they 
are  still  to  be  seen  clinging  to  it.  Little  Hocking  was  favor- 
ed by  the  flood,  and  was  not  injured  much.  The  county  bridge 
was  carried  away,  and  that  is  her  greatest  loss. 

Hockingport  did  not  fare  so  well.  Thirteen  of  her  houses 
had  been  carried  off",  and  as  many  more  moved  or  loosened 
from  their  foundations.  The  people  report  that  Messrs. 
Knowles,  Kesper,  Dalton,  and  Ira  Huntington,  of  this  place, 
are  entitled  to  the  everlasting  gratitude  ot  the  people  for  what 
they  did  for  the  destitute  before  relief  arrived  from  other 
points.  George  Sims,  H.  Bumgardner,  and  John  Dick- 
inson are  probably  the  heaviest  losers.  Mr.  Sims  lost  his 
store-house  and  warehouse  ;  Mr.  Bumgardner,  his  saw  mill, 
and  100,000  feet  of  lumber,  and  Mr.  Dickinson,  his  cooper 
shop,  tools,  timber,  and  material  used  in  his  business.  The 
flood  throwed  many  out  of  work  here,  and  there  was  consid- 


HISTORY    OF    THE    GREAT    FLOOD    OF    1884.  33 

erable  destitution  until  relieved.  The  large  bridge  over  Lee 
Creek,  in  Wood  county,  West  Virginia,  will  have  to  be  re- 
built, having  been  washed  off,  and  stove  to  pieces. 

At  -Harris  Ferry,  four  miles  above  Belleville,  says  corre- 
spondence of  State  Journal  (Parkersburg),  lived  Old  Man 
White  and  wife,  in  the  same  house  the}'-  occupied  in  1832,  at 
the  time  of  that  flood,  and  the  old  '32  flood  marks  were  yet 
visible  on  the  side  of  their  house.  They  lost  their  little  all 
this  time,  and  were  made  quite  destitute. 

The  town  of  Belleville,  W.  Va.,  was  a  great  sufferer.  A 
large  number  of  her  citizens  were  obliged  to  go  to  the  coun- 
try for  shelter  and  food.  Capt.  Cooper,  of  the  steamer  So- 
noma, rendered  great  assistance  to  the  unfortunates,  inviting 
them  to  come  on  board  his  boat,  and  giving  them  all  the  sup- 
plies possible.  Thirty-three  buildings  were  washed  away, 
and  twenty-five  more  were  moved  from  their  foundations. 
The  water  was  seven  feet  six  inches  higher  than  in  1883,  an<^ 
between  three  and  four  feet  higher  than  in  1832.  The  water 
was  into  the  second  story  of  every  house  but  three,  and  pre- 
sented a  picture  of  desolation,  if  not  despair.  Trees,  logs 
and  wrecks  of  houses  were  scattered  about  in  great  confu- 
sion. W.  A,  Cooper,  Hod.  Mitchell  and  Anthon}'  Wil- 
liamson &  Son  were  among  the  heavy  losers.  The  latter 
firm  lost  their  store-house  and  entire  stock  of  goods.  At 
Long  Bottom  the  people  sheltered  themselves  in  the  churches 
and  school-houses.  The  water  here  rose  eight  feet  six  inches 
higher  than  in  1883,  and  was  about  ten  feet  all  over  the  town. 
The  total  loss  here  is  from  $15,000  to  $20,000.  At  Murray- 
ville,  a  place  noted  for  thrift  and  industry,  there  was  but  little 
to  see  but  desolation  on  every  hand.  As,  in  most  of  the 
towns,  the  churches  and  school-houses  were  on  the  most 
elevated  ground,  and  served  a  good  purpose  in  giving  shelter 
to  the  people  in  this  hour  of  great  extremity.  When  the 
water  went  down  here,  the  people  found  many  of  their  house- 
hold goods  buried  in  the  sand  and  mud  of  the  streets.  The 
water  reached  a  height  here  of  nine  feet  above  '83,  and  two 
and  a-half  feet  above  '32,  and  would  average  nine  feet  on  all 
the  houses. 

We  forgot  to  mention  that  the  village  of  Reedsville,  just 
below  Belleville,  stood  high  and  dry  above  the  waters,  and 
was  one  of  the  few  places  able  to  render  assistance  to  her 
neighbors,  which  she  did  in  a  royal  manner. 

We  now  come  to  and  enter  what  is  known  as  the 


34  HISTORY    OF    THE    GREAT   FLOOD    OF    1884. 

GREAT    POMEROY    BEND. 

To  show  the  extent  of  this  bend  we  will  state  that  it  is 
twenty-seven  miles  from  Letart,  Ohio,  to  Point  Pleasant  by 
the  way  of  the  river,  and  only  sixteen  miles  between  these 
points  across  the  country.  It  is  a  continuous  stretch  of  bend 
for  about  thirty  miles,  counting  from  Murrayville,  or  Long 
Bottom,  to  Pomeroy,  though  usually  reckoned  for  half  that 
distance,  or  less,  counting  from  Racine  down. 

Over  twenty  towns  are  in  the  bend,  embracing  a  population 
of  more  than  50,000  people.  The  bottoms  are  generally  wide 
and  fertile,  averaging  on  the  north  side  one  and  a  half  miles 
in  width.  It  is  a  great  coal  and  salt  region.  The  water  took 
away  the  tipples  of  all  the  mines.  Six  of  the  largest  mines 
were  flooded.  In  this  bend  there  is  probably  more  heavy 
labor  done  than  anywhere  along  the  river  for  the  same 
extent  in  miles,  and  the  interruption  of  business  at  this  season 
of  the  year  was  particularly  severe  on  the  laboring  classes. 
From  Murrayville  down  are  the  following  villages  and  towns  : 
Muse's  Bottom,  Portland,  Ravenswood,  Great  Bend,  Pleasant 
View,  Saxon,  Willow  Grove,  Ripley  Landing,  Apple 
Grove,  Letart,  Letart  Falls,  Plants,  Antiquity,  Racine,  New 
Haven,  Syracuse,  Hartford  City,  Minersville,  and  Mason 
City  (opposite  Pomeroy),  and  Pomeroy  itself. 

Portland  is  a  little  town  in  the  extreme  upper  end  of  Meigs 
County,  with  a  population  of  nearly  200  people.  We  take 
the  following  correspondence  relative  to  Portland  from  the 
Meigs  County  Telegraph: 

"The  wild  waters  drove  every  family  in  town  from  their  homes  except  those 
of  G.  W.  Clark,  Captain  N.  W.  Wheeler,  and  Rev.  Bell.  The  water  was 
sixteen  inches  deep  on  the  grinding  floor  of  the  mill,  and  one  side  of  the  boiler 
wall  fell  down.  The  mill  company  sustain  damages  to  the  amount  of  $200  at 
least.  L.  Bramble's  store-house  floated  off  with  about  $300  worth  of  goods ; 
the  building  lodged  three  miles  below,  on  James  McKay's  farm,  and  a  part  of 
the  goods  have  since  been  abstracted.  Bramble's  dwelling  house  and  ware- 
room  were  afloat  and  moved  from  their  foundations.  He  also  lost  20,000 
*taves  and  heading.  Mr.  Bramble  thinks  his  loss  will  approximate  $1,000.  R. 
Allen  &  Son's  store  was  afloat,  and  was  only  saved  from  floating  oft"  by  tying. 
'The  goods  were  transferred  to  a  barge,  where  they  held  forth  in  true  ''floating 
palace"  style  during  the  high  water.  A.  E.  Allen's  dwelling  was  moved  from 
the  foundation  by  the  waves  of  the  Stockdale.  Damage  to  store  and  dwelling 
$200  to  $300.  John  Bell's  skiff  shop  floated  off  and  lodged  on  the  liead  of 
Buffington's  Island;  loss  $150.  George  Thompson's  skiff  shop  was  moved 
from  the  foundation,  and  some  of  his  lumber  floated  off;  loss  $100.  A  small 
building  belonging  to  H.  Price,  and  occupied  by  Doc  Blain,  floated  off.  Matt. 


HISTORY    OF   THE    GREAT    FLOOD    OF    1884.  35 

Bennett's  dwelling  floated  fifty  yards  and  lodged  in  Mrs.  Gale's  lot ;  will  cost 
$50  to  get  it  back  again.  George  Taylor's  dwelling  was  afloat,  and  is  badly 
racked.  His  kitchen  and  the  contents  floated  oft";  loss  $200.  Jesse  Gandee's 
dwelling  floated  oft"  the  foundation  ;  damaged  $100.  Bill  Smith's  shoe  shopt 
also  used  for  Pos' -  iffice,  was  afloat  ;  his  kitchen  was  also  detached  from  the 
house  ;  loss  $200.  One  end  of  R.  M.  Taggart's  house  rose  in  the  water,  but 
settled  back.  Urrcle  Billy  Barringer's  house  floated  off  the  foundation.  Mrs. 
Carrie  Powell's  house  floated  off  the  foundation.  Mrs.  Browning's  kitchen 
was  turned  over.  Mrs.  Carter's  house  floated  too  yards  and  lodged  on  George 
Taylor's  lot.  The  Pat  Carder  house  floated  and  lodged  on  Taylor's  lot. 
Scarcely  any  of  the  buildings  which  where  afloat  could  have  been  saved  but  for 
the  timely  aid  rendered  by  the  towboat  Onward  in  the  use  of  her  lines,  by 
which  the  houses  were  made  secure.  The  town  is  literallv  jammed  full  of  drift 
of  every  description,  and  much  time  will  be  required  to  clean  up  the  rubbish 
before  some  of  the  buildings  can  be  replaced.  At  DeWitt's  Run  several  build- 
ings floated  off  their  foundations.  M.  L.  Fitch's  dwelling  was  almost  covered 
with  water,  but  was  weighted  down  so  that  it  did  not  move.  He  had  several 
hundred  bushels  of  corn  under  water.  The  school  house,  a  mile  up  the  creek, 
floated  across  the  stream.  We  have  one  that  beats  Major  F.  C.  Russell's  pig 
story  :  Thomas  Coleman,  on  Muse's  Bottom,  took  thirty  hogs  up  stairs  in  one 
end  of  his  residence,  and  he  occupied  the  other  end.  On  Buffington  Island 
3,000  bushels  of  corn  were  under  water." 

Ravenswood  was  another  one  of  those  fortunate  towns  that 
only  got  a  taste  and  flavor  of  the  "Great  Flood  of  '84." 
The  water  reached  its  highest  point  here  on  Sunday,  Febru- 
ary loth,  when  it  stood  seven  feet  above  '83.  In  the  houses 
right  along  the  river  the  water  got  eight  feet  deep,  but  back,, 
the  town  was  not  overflowed — probably  only  one  square  of 
the  place  was  in  water.  She  was  but  very  little  damaged, 
and  stood  viewing  the  flood  with  serenity  of  mind  incident  to 
a  knowledge  of  perfect  safety.  Yet  she  was  alive  to  the 
wants  of  the  distressed  around  her,  and  did  all  she  could  in 
relieving  them. 

At  Letart,  the  damage  was  light  comparatively,  only  the 
lower  part  of  the  town  being  submerged.  At  Antiquity,  the 
losses  were  heavy.  Racine,  for  a  small  town,  suffered  im- 
mensely. Her  losses  exceed  $25,000.  The  following  is  a 
list  of  the  persons  who  lost  property  in  Racine,  ranging  from 
a  few  dollars  to  over  $1,000: 

B.  E.  Sibley,  Rev.  E.  Sibley,  Jacob  Schaffer,  J.  B.  Kay,  B.  Kay  &  Son,  R. 
H.  Harpold,  Matilda  Harpold,  W.  H.  Williams,  Peter  Petrel,  Racine  Brass 
Band,  J.  C.  Hayman,  Condery  &  Haning,  Rev.  Stanley  Stivers,  Horace  Congs, 
W.  A.  Ellis  &  Co.,  W.  A.  Ellis,  L.  A.  Weaver,  William  Applegate,  T.  W. 
Mercer,  T.  Smart,  Reed  Richards  &  Co.,  Martin  Wolf,  Michael  Beacer,  Abner 


36  HISTORY   OF   THE    GREAT    FLOOD    OF    1884. 

Curtis,  Lewis  Curtis,  Alberta  Curtis,  Sylvester  Curtis,  William  Donaldson.  S. 
S.  Sarbre.  Leander  Bell,  L.  S.  Cross,  Harvey  J.  Wolf,  E.  Aumiller,  John  Wolf, 
Mrs.  Berges,  Lydia  Sayre,  J.  R.  Philson,  W.  G.  Sibley,  Andrew  Lone,  Dr. 
Gregory,  Mrs.  Chany  Bouls,  W.  B.  Clark,  J.  J.  M.  Suit,  J.  L.  W.  Bell,  George 
Ogden,  A.  J.  Smart,  Frank  Filson,  J.  R.  Ellis,  Angie  Boyd,  Cassie  Wolf.  J. 
Perry  Wolf,  H.  M.  Danley  &  Co.,  Ben  Congrove,  Mrs.  Jane  Brierly,  Emma  Jen- 
kins, Capt.  Geo.  Aumiller,  Mrs.  C.  Merreil,  R.  E.  Rhodes,  H.  E.  Amsdcn,  Mrs. 
Watkins.  Chas.  Jay,  Chas.  Bell,  David  Cowdrey,  Mrs.  E.  B.  Amsden,  Z. 
Rhodes,  John  Wilson,  Adeline  Ellis,  Frank  Weaver.  Josh  Harpold,  D.  M. 
Wolf.  Mary  Coe,  Capt.  George  Smith,  John  Buffington,  E.  B.  Deweese,  Allen 
&  Clark,  T.  Mallory,  John  P.  Wolf,  Jr..  J.  M.  Ellis,  J.  F.  Neglor,  B.  B.  Mallory, 
John  Weldon,  A.  M.  Carson,  Rev.  J.  C.  Arbuckle,  C.  G.  Beach,  A.  M.  Bell, 
E.  S.  Mays,  Ed.  Egan,  John  Beagle,  R.  E.  Ellis,  J.  D.Jones,  Elias  Smith,  John 
Banks,  G.  W.  Wolf,  William  Lane,  Dr.  E.  C.  Fisher,  Mallory  &  McElroy, 
Capt.  Dor.  DeWolf,  W.  B.  Skirvin,  A.  W.  Paden,  William  Dum,  Mrs.  R.  Mc- 
Elroy, S.  D.  Pickens,  E.  Reed,  Mrs.  A.  Cooper,  G.  N.  West,  W.  S.  Wolf,  D. 
Garen,  H.  H.  Blackmore,  John  Smith,  S.  R.  Wolf,  Waid  Cross,  Cross  estate, 
Noah  Weaver,  J.  G.  Wolf. 

Racine,  after  the  flood,  looked  worse  than  almost  any  other 
place.  It  seemed  to  have  gone  more  to  pieces.  The  water 
at  its  highest  stage  covered  two  of  the  Methodist  church  steps. 
The  old  Lallance  House,  Eph.  Aumiller's  dwelling,  and 
numbers  of  the  residences  on  the  hill  that  have  been  consid- 
ered above  high  water  mark  for  a  generation,  were  flooded. 
It  lacked  only  one  inch  of  entering  the  residence  of  Mrs. 
Doctor  Philson.  The  entire  lower  end  of  town  was  com- 
pletely drowned  out.  W.  A.  Ellis  &  Go's  store 'was  the  only 
one  in  which  the  water  did  not  reach  the  second  story.  Five 
baby  boys  were  born  in  the  town  during  the  flood,  belonging 
respectively  to  Riley  Wolf,  Frank  Filson,  Finley  Banks, 
Cullen  Gilkey,  and  J.  C.  Hayman.  "Little  Gath,"  corre- 
spondent of  the  Telegraph,  and  from  whose  article  the  above 
facts  are  gleaned,  said  it  would  cost  $500  to  get  the  streets  in 
shape,  they  were  piled  so  full  of  drift  and  rubbish. 

"  C.  A.  R.,"  writing  to  the  Telegraph  from  Long  Bottom, 
says :  "Taking  the  dwelling  houses  of  this  village  that  were 
situated  low  enough  for  the  water  to  reach,  fourteen  out  the 
twenty-eight  went  down  the  river  ;  one  stopped  a  half  a  mile 
below  and  broke  in  two.  The  damage  amounts  to  one-third 
the  value  of  the  village  before  the  flood.  The  flood  of  1884, 
on  the  pth  of  February,  by  a  careful  measurement,  was  eight 
feet  and  one  inch  higher  than  the  flood  of  1852.  The  flood 
of  1883  was  seven  inches  below  1852." 


HISTORY    OF   THE    GREAT   FLOOD    OF   1884.  37 

The  flood  used  Miners ville  very  badly.  Her  coal  banks 
were  flooded  last  year,  and  again  this  year. 

The  following  is  from  an  esteemed  lady  resident  of  Miners- 
ville : 

On  Tuesday,  February  5th,  we  began  to  realize  that  the  river  was  rapidly 
rising.  On  the  6th  its  upward  course  marked  four  inches  an  hour.  That  even- 
ing four  stout  horses  hauled  Mr.  E.  Williams'  caulking  float  up  the  road  to  re- 
move the  household  goods  of  those  dwellings  threatened  by  the  flood.  Right 
here  we  may  say  this  same  float  did  service  last  year  during  the  flood.  Mr. 
Williams'  boat  and  skiffs  have  always  been  at  the  disposal  of  the  people  free  of 
charge  during  high  water.  Thursday  and  Friday,  the  7th  and  8th,  three  inches 
an  hour  was  the  reply  to  the  anxious  inquiry  of  how  rapidly  the  river  was  rising. 
And  even  the  man  who  reasoned  because  the  river  never  had  reached  a  certain 
point,  it  never  would,  was  ready  to  admit  his  logic  bad.  Saturday,  the  gth,  two 
inches  and  a  half  an  hour ;  and  Sunday  one-half  an  inch,  and  one-quarter,  and 
finally  "  a  stand."  When  on  a  stand,  the  Ohio  River  reached  from  hill  to  hill. 
"  On  the  stand  "  was  hailed  with  joy,  and  hope  once  more  dawned  on  a  flood- 
stricken  people.  But  who  shall  picture  those  dark  days  when  the  great  heart 
of  nature  seemed  touched, and  she  poured  a  flood  of  tears,  or  brooded  in  the  sullen 
silence  of  a  dense  fog.  The  sun  refused  to  shine.  Those  nights  full  of  terror 
and  darkness,  whose  stillness  was  broken  by  the  roar  of  the  water  as  it  flowed 
over  the  slate  tip  ;  the  pitiful  lowing  of  cows,  squealing  of  swine,  and  crowing 
of  roosters  imprisoned  by  the  flood  in  Virginia;  the  blowing  of  conch  shells, 
and  cries  for  help  from  the  other  shore,  made  a  night  that  few  would  care  to 
repeat,  and  never  could  forget.  "  The  river  on  the  stand,"  but  what  destruction 
had  been  wrought !  Of  one  hundred  houses  in  the  school  district,  averaging  six  to 
a  household,  but  thirteen  houses  that  the  flood  had  not  to  some  extent  deso- 
lated. Where  did  the  people  go  ?  Those  that  could,  moved  up-stairs ;  where 
this  was  impracticable,  they  sought  refuge  on  higher  ground,  and  packed  like  sar- 
dines in  a  box  in  those  houses  not  inundated.  Many  household  goods  might 
be  seen  on  the  hill-side  in  the  drenching  rain,  while  others  fared  worse  by  being 
completely  submerged  in  the  houses.  Then  to  add  to  misfortune,  Mr.  E. 
Williams'  coal  banks  flooded,  and  their  means  of  livelihood  was  cut  off.  For  a 
time  it  seemed  as  though  starvation  and  ruin  stared  our  people  in  the  face. 
But  private  aid  began  pouring  in,  first  from  the  grand  distributing  point  ol 
Gallipolis  ;  the  boats  over  which  floated  the  stars  and  stripes,  whose  side  bore 
the  inscription  of  "  U.  S.  Relief,"  came,  and  with  them  such  store  of  good  pro- 
visions, blankets,  comforts,  and  clothing  for  a  needy  people,  that  it  made  one 
feel  like  thanking  God  he  lived  in  such  a  country,  where  none,  no  matter  what 
calamity  might  overtake  them,  were  allowed  to  suffer.  The  supplies  came  in 
plenty,  and  were  distributed  generously  by  the  relief  committee.  They  con- 
tinue to  issue  rations,  and  will  so  continue  until  the  works  are  started.  To  re- 
tarn  to  the  flooding  of  the  mines  :  Mr.  E.  William's  dam  stood  like  adamant, 
and  up  till  Saturday  p.  M.  all  hoped  the  mines  would  be  saved  ;  but  then  it  was 
discovered  the  water  was  coming  in  from  the  old  works.  The  men  filled  up 


38  HISTORY    OF    THE    GREAT   FLOOD    OF   1884. 

the  closets  along  the  foot  of  the  hill,  and  an  opening  where  coal  had  heen 
gotten  out  years  ago  was  thoroughly  protected.  But  still  the  water  came  in. 
Then  that  night  men  went  in  the  bank,  and  hastily  constructed  a  dam  in  one 
of  the  old  entries,  in  the  vain  hope  they  might  save  the  mine.  They  then  dis- 
covered the  water  was  coming  through  the  old  works,  the  Yost  bank  ;  the 
breaking  through  caused  by  the  flooding  of  Morton's  bank,  which  had  occurred 
several  days  previously — his  mine  flooding  both  this  year  and  last,  from  be- 
ing insecurely  dammed.  The  dam  built  Saturday  night  to  stay  the  waters  held 
till  Sabbath,  when  it  had  flowed  through  the  old  mine,  and  the  great  body  of 
water  had  risen  neaily  to  the  top  of  the  dam,  when  it  broke  with  fearful  force, 
producing  a  report  like  a  cannon,  and  a  large  body  of  water  came  rushing  into 
the  mines.  The  few  who  were  laboring  near  the  entrance  to  the  salt  furnace 
lost  no  time  in  escaping,  for  none  knew  the  extent  of  the  danger.  But  there 
were  the  two  engineers,  back  over  a  mile  at  the  engines,  under  ground — they 
must  be  saved  !  Few  care  to  enter  a  mine  under  such  circumstances.  So  John 
E.  Williams  started  in  alone,  to  warn  the  men  of  their  danger,  but  could  not 
proceed  far,  as  the  water  from  the  old  entries  had  forced  the  bad  air  out,  and 
the  lights  would  not  burn  ;  so  he  retraced  his  steps,  and  started  over  the  hill  to 
enter  the  slope.  Billy  Bath  was  the  only  man  who  volunteered  to  go  with  him  ; 
soon  Charlie  Hood  came  up,  and  learned  the  situation  (his  brother  was  one  of 
the  engineers)  ;  he  and  Bath  lost  no  time  in  making  their  way  there.  Mr. 
Williams  being  very  fleshy,  and  short  of  breath,  could  not  keep  up  with  them. 
They  made  fast  time  down  the  slope,  and  found  that  the  engineers,  Wall  Hood 
and  John  Redpath,  had  become  aware  of  the  danger,  and  sought  places  of 
safety.  They  were  soon  rescued,  and  the  joyful  news  spread  that  the  en- 
gineers were  sale.  We  heard  one  of  the  mine  owners  rejoicing,  and  saying, 
"  As  the  boys  were  all  right,  the  bank  might  go."  Sunday  there  was  but  one  miner 
who  would  enter  the  bank,  and  go  any  where,  and  brave  any  danger.  That  man 
was  David  E.  Evans,  a  man  who  has  few  equals,  and  no  peer  in  coolness  and 
bravery.  It  is  the  opinion  of  the  owners  that  had  not  the  temporary  dam  been 
constructed,  so  as  to  let  such  a  vast  volume  of  water  come  in  at  once  when  it 
broke,  that  some  men  could  have  been  found  to  work  in  the  bank,  and  their 
pumps  and  machinery  might  have  been  saved.  But  after-sight  is  always  the 
best.  As  it  was,  when  the  waters  ceased  coming  in  so  rapidly,  and  seemed 
nearly  on  a  stand,  the  next  week,  the  men  saved  a  great  many  wagons,  tools, 
brick,  &c.,  and  the  new  boiler,  that  had  never  been  placed,  was  brought  out. 
Mr.  Williams  has  purchased  a  large  Blake  pump,  now  that  is  out  at  the  shaft, 
and  will  be  placed  in  position  as  soon  as  possible,  and  doubtless  will  speak  for 
itself  as  to  what  it  can  accomplish.  Mr.  Jubles,  as  yet,  has  not  had  an  oppor- 
tunity to  make  an  accurate  estimate  of  his  losses  at  the  White  Rock  Salt  Fur- 
nace, but  calculates  it  will  be  at  least  $5,000.  They  labored  to  save  his  property, 
but  with  all  their  efforts  2,000  barrels  of  salt  were  lost,  a  number  of  grainers 
destroyed,  and  other  property  wrecked.  To  return  to  the  relief  committee — 
the  active  members  being  Dan  Thomas  and  John  Redpath — we  have  no  figures 
to  give  of  their  work,  but  they  render  their  account  to  Uncle  Sam.  We  believe 
they  have  faithfully,  and  to  the  best  of  their  ability,  discharged  their  duty.  Of 


HISTORY    OF   THE    GREAT    FLOOD    OF    1884.  30 

course,  they  have  not  pleased  all — that  would  be  beyond  human  power.  The 
following  is  a  list  of  those  who  lost  by  the  flood  :  Harry  Stobart,  Samuel 
Runion,  IJavid  H.  Williams,  Thomas  Auflick,  Mrs.  John  R.  Jones,  John  Sands, 
Mrs.  C.  Davis,  Mrs.  Nancy  Hood.  Mrs.  Thomas,  Mrs.  Elizabeth  Jones,  Edward 
Rees,  Perry  Wise,  Arch  McCuilum,  Robert  Hughes,  William  Bath,  Sr.,  Mrs. 
Peter  Jones.  J.  R.  Arnold,  William  Edwards.  Thomas  Stobart,  John  West 
moreland,  Daniel  L.  Thomas,  E.  Williams  ($S.ooo),  Jacob  P.Jones,  Thomas 
Williams.  James  Karr,  John  Rodgers,  Daniel  L.  Lewis,  Mrs.  Kaziah  Jones, 
Thomas  Powell,  Sr.,  William  Thomas  (the  second),  I.  N.  Hall,  Mrs.  Doyle. 

Camp-iires  and  blanket-shanties  along  the  hill  tops,  says  the  Meig*  County 
llnrultl,  were  not  unfamiliar  sights.  Many  buildings  were  picked  up  and  jammed 
around  promiscuously.  Thos.  Francis  had  the  only  house  out  of  water, 
and  at  one  time  had  seventy -five  persons  in  his  house  Syracuse  came  near 
going  under  entirely.  The  buildings,  says  the  Herald,  "  along  the  river  bank 
were  entirely  submerged  with  the  exception  of  the  roofs.  The  College  building 
was  used  as  a  refuge  for  the  homeless  sufferers.  Provisions  were  short.  Suf- 
fering here  was  probably  not  so  great  as  at  other  places  ;  but  it  was  bad  enough. 

The  Syracuse  Coal  and  Salt  Co.  could  not  furnish  an  estimate  of  their 
losses,  but  it  will  be  away  up  in  the  thousands.  Both  the  Slope  and  the  Shaft 
mines  are  flooded.  It  will  take  at  least  six  or  eight  months  to  pump  them  out. 
Upon  these  works  many  hundred  men  depend  for  their  living,  and  if  the  mines 
are  destroyed  Syracuse  is  gone.  The  loss  of  household  property  was  consid- 
erable ;  residents  expected  no  such  rise,  consequently  failed  to  move  their  goods 
in  time.  Not  a  house  nor  a  building  of  any  sort  has  drifted  away,  but  many 
are  in  bad  condition. 

NEW    HAVEN. 

"A  city  set  on  a  hill  cannot  be  hid."  Little  New  Haven  is  about  the  only- 
place  in  the  vicinity  of  Pomeroy  that  was  anyway  out  of  water.  The  salt 
works  were  damaged  slightly,  but  to  no  considerable  extent.  A  few  hundred 
dollars  will  cover  the  entire  loss.  The  coal  banks  were  above  high  water,  as 
were  most  of  the  company  houses.  Suffering  was  not  very  great,  the  furnaces- 
had  been  running  pretty  steadily,  and  most  of  the  hands  had  something  to  their 
credit.  New  Haven  fared  well. 

HARTFORD   CITY. 

When  we  came  to  Hartford,  the  same  old  familiar  sight,  of  a  drowned  out 
town,  greeted  our  eyes.  The  town  is  almost  perfectly  level,  and  the  water 
covered  the  place  clear  to  the  hills.  Mr.  A.  L.  Sehon  was  unfortunate  enough 
to  lose  several  head  of  cattle,  hogs,  etc.,  by  drowning.  Household  goods,  and 
property  in  general  throughout  the  town  was  destroyed.  Winkleblack's  stave 
mill  was  left,  but  the  heading,  staves  and  lumber  had  been  swept  away.  Hart- 
ford suffered  very  little  for  want  of  provision.  The  people  packed  up  what 
stores  they  could  get.  and  took  to  the  hill.  People  lived  in  rough  shanties  a* 
contentedly  as  though  they  were  palaces. 

MASON  CITY. 

Mason  City  was  only  partially  covered  by  water.  The  back  end  of  the  town, 
owing  to  its  height,  was  not  touched  by  the  flood.  John  Mees  &  Son's  saw 


40  HISTORY    OF   THE    GREAT    FLOOD    OF    1884. 

mill  was  covered  by  water.  They  succeeded  in  saving  most  of  their  lumber, 
saw  logs,  shingles,  staves,  etc.  The  Hope  Salt  Company's  loss  is  between 
$4,000  and  $5,000.  A  portion  of  their  salt  sheds  was  carried  away.  The  loss  in 
manufactured  salt  to  the  company  is  considerable.  The  Mason  City  Salt  Co.'s 
sheds,  etc.,  are  mostly  all  O.  K.  This  furnace  has  not  been  in  operation  for 
over  a  year,  so  they  had  no  salt  to  lose.  Learner's  bromine  sheds  broke  loose 
and  floated  down  against  the  Hope  Salt  sheds. 

CLIFTON. 

Clifton,  not  to  be  outdone,  went  under  water,  with  the  rest  of  the  world.  The 
Bedford  Salt  Company  lost,  and  is  damaged,  to  some  considerable  extent.  The 
Standard  Iron  and  Nail  Works,  flooded ;  loss  $10,000.  The  Sterling  Coal 
Works  lost  $1,500.  Clifton  has  not  suffered  so  terribly  as  it  might.  G.  W. 
Heinisch,  leading  merchant,  lost  $3,500. 

The  Nora  Belle,  relief  boat  from  Gallipolis,  left  on  her 
first  visit  of  relief  to  these  places,  including  Pomeroy,  with 
supplies  for  the  following  number  of  persons:  Camden, 
W.  Va.,30o;  West  Columbia,  W.  Va.,  400;  Clifton,  W.Va., 
600;  Middleport,  O.,  2,000;  Pomeroy,  O.,  925  ;  Mason  City, 
W.  Va.,  400;  German  Furnace,  W.  Va.,  100 ;  Minersville, 
O.,  1,200;  Syracuse,  O.,  700;  Hartford  City,  W.  Va.,  500; 
Racine,  O.,  125  ;  Antiquity,  O.,  150. 

A  correspondent  of  the  News  'journal,  accompanying  the 
Stockdale  on  a  relief  trip  just  after  the  waters  began  going 
down,  says : 

"To  paint  the  scenes  of  destruction  in  the  ruined  towns,  of  demolished  build- 
ings, overturned  and  wrecked  houses  and  bridges,  mud  and  debris,  needs  simply 
this  one  word,  '  awful.'  Let  the  imagination  picture  its  worst,  and  it  will  not 
equal  the  work  of  the  flood  upon  this  once  bright  land  of  Pomeroy  Bend." 

It  has  been  ascertained  that  500  or  more  houses  were  swept 
out  of  the  bend.  Six  of  its  twenty  coal  mines  flooded,  8,000 
people  idle  and  next  thing  to  homeless,  is  the  situation  on 
this  Saturday,  February  9. 

Monday  morning, 

FEBRUARY  11, 

the  water  reached  its  greatest  height  at  Pomeroy.  It  aver- 
aged all  along  the  bend  a  depth  of  sixty-four  feet,  but  here  it 
was  sixty-four  feet  six  inches.  It  went  down  very  slowly,  as 
it  had  done  above,  and  as  it  was  best  for  it  to  do,  as  a 
rapid  decline  would  have  carried  more  buildings  and  property 
into  the  current ;  but,  as  the  Pomeroy  Telegraph  said,  "It 
seemed  a  long  and  wearisome  time  to  our  people,  penned  up 
in  second  stories  and  other  quarters  to  wait  before  they  could 


HISTORY    OF    THE    GREAT    FLOOD    OY    1884.  41 

get  into  their  places  of  business  and  workshops  to  clean  them 
out  and  prepare  to  resume  the  avocations  of  life."  Thirty •» 
six  houses  left  the  town  ;  among  them  Epline's  drug  store, 
Mike  Epple's  wareroom,  Mrs.  B.  Weiskettle's  baker  shop, 
the  Pomeroy  Reading  Room,  Schont's  saloon,  E.  Joseph's 
residence,  Geiger's  harness  shop  (caught  at  Gallipolis), 
Geo.  Smith's  tailor  shop,  Sam.  Garen's  business  house,  with 
all  its  goods,  John  Wipple's  shoe  shop,  A.  Blumenthal's  dry 
goods  and  notion  store,  N.  Curtiss'  saloon,  the  drum-house 
of  the  Buckeye  Salt  Works,  J.  Elberfield's  store-house, 
Henry  Neutzling's  store-house,  Sam.  Hodges'  music  store, 
Nick  Renter's  saloon,  the  Pomeroy  Soap  Factory,  Juhler's 
bromine  works,  Con.  SteifTs  saloon,  Mrs.  Kepp's  residence, 
C.,  H.  V.  &  T.  R.  R.  depot  (caught  on  the  Jenkins  farm 
below  Gallipolis),  Jedro's  dwelling,  and  various  other  dwell- 
ings, business  houses  and  barns,  to  the  number  of  thirty-six, 
besides  about  150  that  were  moved  from  their  foundations. 

From  Racine,  ten  miles  above  Pomeroy,  to  two  miles 
below,  the  devastation  was  wide-spread,  and  had  only  the 
appearance  of  general  wreck  and  ruin  in  a  sea  of  angry 
waters.  It  was  a  frightful  picture  that  can  hardly  be  realized 
now  that  the  water  has  gone  down.  We  append  a  list  of 
losses  as  given  by  the  Telegraph,  with  a  few  slight  changes 
as  we  have  been  informed  through  other  sources : 

City  Bank,  $50;  Will  Scheiber,  50.00;  Dr.  J.  H.  Jones,  350.00;  John  S. 
Davis  &  Son,  150.00;  B.  Baer,  150.00;  Geo.  Masser  &  Co.,  200.00;  J.  C.  Probst  & 
Son,  500.00;  E.  W.  Rine,  75.00;  D.  Geyer,  350.00;  David  Lark,  25.00;  Peter 
Rappold,  600.00;  V.  F.  Frizell,  1,200.00;  Mrs.  Milly  Henderson,  300.00;  Adam 
Barthel,  300.00;  Mrs.  Martin  Stahl,  200.00;  Fred  Turner,  100.00;  Wm.  Wehe, 
20000;  Mrs.  Vincent,  100.00;  Levi  Woods  and  Henry  Streets,  50.00;  Geo.  P. 
Stout,  1,000.00;  D.  L. Geyer,  300.00;  Mrs.  Wm.  Lee,  100.00;  Henry  Koehler, 
700.00;  Frank  Humphrey,  100.00;  Wash  Russell,  250.00;  Ed.  Hennessey, 
200.00;  Jacob  Dors),  200.00;  Henry  Neutzling,  100.00;  Dr.  Hysell,  100.00;  Ed. 
Hampton,  150.00;  W.  J.  Prall,  50.00;  John  Bartlett,  125.00;  Dr.  Allard,  200.00; 
Geo.  Eiselstein,  75.00;  C.  Dale,  250.00;  H.  Priode,  35000;  W.  A.  Aicher, 
joo.oo;  Nick  Curtiss,  600.00;  Monkey  Run  Coal  Co.,  50.00;  Leonard  Kepp, 
750.00;  John  Dyke,  250.00;  John  Voss,  75.00;  C.,  H.  V.  &  T.  R.  R.  ticket- 
office,  25.00;  B.  S.  McComas,  550.00;  Mrs.  M.  Shilling,  100.00;  Andy  Geyer, 
700.00;  Peter  Rappold,  700.00;  Conrad  Steiff,  4,000.00;  Abraham  Mees,  500.00; 
C..  H.  V.  &  T.  R.  R.,  5,000.00;  Thayer  Morton,  500.00;  Mrs.  Duncan  Sloan, 
200.00;  Welch  Calvanistic  Church,  300.00;  Judge  J.  P.  Bradbury,  500.00;  John 
Loudansheis,  400.00;  Mrs.  Anna  Michael,  200.00;  Henry  Fisher,  50.00;  O.  H. 
Odell,  150.00;  Dabney  Salt  Furnace,  4,000.00;  Pomeroy  Coal  Company, 
1,000.00;  Mrs.  Miller,  250.00;  John  Hopp,  350.00;  Sam  Silveman,  400.00:  T. 


42  HISTORY    OF    THE    GREAT    FJ.OOD    OF 

J.  Juhler,  5.000.00;  A.  D.  Weed,  950.00,  August  Goesslcr,  300.00;  Mrs  M.  P. 
.Barclay,  100.00;  D.  Geyer,  200.00;  Thos.  White-side,  250.00;  A.  W.  Seebohm, 
2,000.00;  J.  C.  Meininger,  700.00;  Mrs.  Denbach.  100.00;  Sey fried  Bros.,  600.00; 

B.  Keehler,  100.00;    German    Furniture   Company,  1,000.00;     Miss  Antoinette 
Osborn,    500.00;     Frank   Wipple,  50000;    Henry   Ewing,    225.00;  B.  F.  Biggs, 
54000;  Henry  Dilcher,  200.00;  J.  C.  Marris,  50.00,  George  McC^uig^,  600.00; 
S.  A.  M.  Moore  &  Co.,  1.300.00;  Wm.  WollV.  300  oo;  Mrs.  I'niion.  50.00;  Geo. 
Weyersmiller,  100.00;    M.  Frank,  40000;   Nick  Klein,  150.00;  Clias.  Schorn, 
100.00;  Peacock  Coal  Co.,  50.00;  Pomeroy  S;(lt  Furnace,  7.000.00;  F.  F.  Hum- 
phrey, 100.00;  Henry  Werner.  100.00;  Mrs.  Susan  Hobt,  100.00;  Adam  Darling, 
100.00;  John  Thress,  2800.00;  Walter  Jenks,  150.00;    A.  Hlumenthal,  2,500.00; 
W.  H.  Remington,  1,000.00;  Chris.  Koontz.  100.00;   Edmund  Gregory,  40.00; 
John  Tnomas,  100.00;  Mrs.  Catherine  Gray,  300.00;  John  13  mm,  500.00;  John 
Geyer,ioo.oo;  John  Franz,  51000;  Geo.  Rubt-nstall.  30000;  Wm.  Lust,  25000; 
Isaac  Baer,  500.00;  11.  M.  Morton, 200.00;  H.  S.  1  loriou.  200.00  ;  A.  B.  Donnaliy, 
800.00;  Samuel  McKnight,  450.00  ;    Robert  Richardson,  too  oo  ;   E.  F.  Feiger, 
400.00;  George  Wandel, 400.00;  B.R.  Remington,  loo.oc;  Isanc  Bradlield,  100.00; 
Geo.  Keyser,  50.00;  Mrs.  Ruse.  100.00;   Mrs.  Robert  Atkinson,  50.00;    Robert 
Craggs,  300.00;    Mrs.  John  Brechl el,  600.00;  John  Schantz.  250.00;  Central 
School  Building,  200.00;    Syracuse  Coal    &    Salt  Co.,    1 15.000.00;    Mrs.   Jane 
Walters,  1,000.00;  Pomeroy  Machine  Co.,  800.00;   D.  L  Geycr's  mill,  400.00; 
Buckeye  Salt  Furnace,  4,000.00;  Wendel  Kantz,  150.00;  D.  S.  Lewis,  2,000.00; 
Mrs.  Samuel  Church,  300.00;  Mike  Blaettnar,  600.00;  Joseph  Conde,    200.00  ; 
Henry  Wehe,  100.00;  John  Krause,  200.00;  Mrs.  Fritz  Ohminger,  400.00;  Col. 

C.  Grant,  1,000.00  ;    B.  C.  Nye,  200.00  ;    Crescent  Iron  Works,  500  oo;    Theo. 
Niggermeyer,   800.00;   G.  Wildermuth,   5,000.00;   Mike    Schlaegel,    1,500.00; 
Edwards   &   Bro.,  400.00;    Geo.  Fahnle,  400.00;    Dr.    Eppeline,    500.00;   Jas. 
Bryne,  500.00;  Frank  Diehl,  300.00  ;  Mike  Eppel,  1,000.00  ;  Chas.  Katz,  500  oo; 
Dr.  Rehm,  150.00;  Welch  Baptist  Church  (Kerr's  Run),  200.00;  C.  M.  Morton, 
300.00;  Pete  Dorst,  400.00;  Wm.  McClain,  200.00;  Mrs.  Edwin  Weeks,  400.00; 
Benedict  Davis,  300.00;    St.     Paul's    Lutheran    Church,    250.00;    Rev.    Wm. 
Schmidt,  125.00;  Thomas  Wheatley,  125.00;   John  Bartlett,  125.00;    Presbyte- 
rian   Church,    300.00;    D.   Reed   &    Son,  300.00;  D.    Reed,  600.00;    J.    C. 
Probost  &  Son,  500.  oo;  Coalridge  Salt  Furnace,  4,000.00  ;  Mrs.  Frank  Taylor, 
25.00;  John  Mora,  500.00;  Louis  Godfried,  200.00;  Mrs.  B.  Weiskittle,  50000; 
August   Zahl.  700.00;    Mrs.  M.   M.  Kennedy,  1,000.00 ;    Mr.    Weidt,    500.00; 
Poinerov  Journal,  unestimated  ;  G.  W.Geiger,  200.00;  Mrs.  Mary  Himmelein, 
250.00;  Ed.  Joseph,  500.00;  Excelsior  Salt  Works,  2,500.00;  Herman  Lerner's 
Bromine  Works,  a  total    wreck,   unestimated ;    McKnight    &   Fisher,    500.00; 
Capt.  Ed.  Williamson,  1,250.00;    Wm.  Tucker,  100.00;  Frank  Lucke,    500.00; 
Cha<.  Arhen,  50.00;  Rev.  T.  T.  Williams,  100.00.     Total,  $123,905.00. 

This  is  a  fearful  contribution  on  a  little  city,  not  falling  in 
most  cases  on  those  best  able  to  bear  it,  but  often  on  those 
whose  last  dollar  was  taken  from  them.  Every  man  who  is 
fifty  dollars  ahead  in  the  world  is  independent.  This  is  fifty 


HISTORY    OF   THE    GREAT    FLOOD    OF    1884.  43 

dollars  each  for  over  6,000  people.  And  honestly  as  the  list 
may  be  given,  it  will  not  cover  actual  loss  by  many  thousands. 
Many  ot"  those  enumerated  above  are  great  losers  at  other 
points  up  and  down  the  river.  It  does  not  include  thousands 
of  dollars  of  labor  in  trying  to  save  what  was  left,  nor  loss  to 
streets,  nor  getting  in  shape  stores  and  residences,  the  destruc- 
tion to  streets,  sidewalks,  culverts,  nor  the  losses  which  will  be 
counted  for  a  year  hence  in  the  way  of  trade  from  those  who 
lost  in  the  whole  surrounding  country  their  crops,  fences  and 
out-buildings.  All  the  way  up  Leading  Creek  to  Rutland 
the  losses  to  farmers  were  very  heavy,  and  that  village  itself 
was  put  to  great  loss  and  inconvenience  that  we  have  not 
space  to  note.  At  this  place  the  water  was  eight  feet  above 
1883,  and  caught  many  farmers  in  all  the  surrounding 
country,  who  find  it  hard  to  estimate  their  losses  in  fences, 
fodder,  straw,  outbuildings,  and  the  like.  The  drowned 
stock  alone  on  the  farms  between  Pomeroy  and  Pittsburgh, 
will  amount  to  hundreds  of  thousands  of  dollars.  There  are 
many  instances  given  of  scores  of  horses,  mules,  cattle 
and  hogs  being  drowned. 

The  story  of  Middleport's  woe  is  but  a  repetition  ol 
Pomeroy's  fearful  experience.  The  following  is  a  partial  list 
of  losses  in  that  place : 

Berry  &  Skinner,  $900.00;  Ed.  Powell,  90.0.00;  E.  Davis  &  Co.,  2,000.00; 
Burt  Green,  2,600.00;  Barnes  &  Chase,  2,000.00;  T.  H.  Dawson,  500.00;  T. 
B.  Lawson,  both  stores,  2,500.00;  Ohio  Machine  Company,  1,000.00;  Hayes 
&  Cook,  200.00;  I.  Jones,  400.00 ;  Ed.  Lark,  300.00;  F.  P.  Bryan,  300.00; 
Robert  Barnes,  800.00 ;  T.  R.  Smith,  1,500 ;  P.  Hugg,  200.00;  James  Park, 
1,000.00;  W.  B.  Probst,  1,400.00;  William  Horden,  1,000.00;  S.  M.  Hysell, 
700.00;  Thomas  Turner,  Soo.oo;  T.  I.  &  Charles  Williams,  500.00  ;  Gussie 
Mack,  200.00;  D.  Enoch^  200.00;  Marine  Docks  and  mill,  800.00;  R.  R. 
Hudson,  extra  labor,  850.00;  Grif.  Michael,  2,500.00;  E.  D.  Jones,  200.00;  H. 
Scharff,  500.00;  W.  M.  Hartinger,  600.00;  Grogan  &  Berg,  300.00;  W.  M. 
Swallow,  100.00;  A.  Calderwood,  Sr.,  1,500.00;  A.  Calderwood,  Jr.,  400.00;  J. 
A.  Rumsey,  600.00;  Paragon  Drug  Store,  75.00  ;  McElhinny  Bros.,  600.00; 
Charles  Root,  500.00;  C.  F.  Besserer,  75.00;  W.  E.  Stansbury,  1,500.00;  J.  C. 
McElhinney,  1,200.00;  Mrs.  Anderson,  250.00;  Wm.  Swisher,  2,000.00;  German 
Furniture  Company,  2.500.00;  W.  B.  Pennington,  2,000.00;  S.  S.  Tubbs,  500.00; 
R.  W.  Vaughn,  300.00;  S.  D.  Webb,  2.000.00;  Chair  Factory,  1,000.00;  A. 
Burkert,  1,000.00  ;  Joseph  Fahnle.  300.00;  Talbott  &  Bro.,  200.00;  S.  F.  Smith, 
300.00;  Finley  Welle,  qoo.oo:  Adam  McLain,  200.00. 

The  Middleport  Republican  says  :  "  This  does  not  include 
losses  in  the  homes,  for  99  out  of  every  100  homes  in  Middle- 


4-i  HISTORY    OF    THE    GREAT    FLOOD    OF   1884. 

port  were  under  water.  The  woolen  mill  is  a  great  loser, 
and  all  traders  and  dealers  are  in  the  same  boat,  or  rather 
out  of  it." 

To  stand  here  and  look  up  the  river,  and  see  nearly  the 
whole  population  that  was  able  to  remain  in  their  houses 
at  all  in  the  second  and  third  stories,  and  thousands  in 
churches,  school-houses,  public  halls,  iails,  court-houses, 
flat  boats,  steamboats,  even  on  rafts,  and  in  brush  and  board 
shanties,  tents  and  blankets  spread  on  poles,  with  one  side 
against  some  huge  rock  or  hill,  for  a  distance  of  over  200 
miles,  was  enough  to  move  a  heart  of  adamant,  and  although 
provisions  and  all  sorts  of  supplies  were  hurried  to  them  as 
fast  as  their  condition  became  known,  yet  many  in  isolated 
places  were  pushed  for  something  to  eat,  and  drowned  cows 
and  hogs  were  caught  in  the  mighty  flood,  and  towed  to  shore 
and  cut  up  and  eaten.  Cattle  were  only  too  glad  to  get  on  a 
hill  or  knoll  where  there  was  nothing  for  them  to  browse  on 
but  the  tender  twigs  of  trees,  dead  leaves,  and  weeds.  Horses 
and  mules  were  often  taken  to  high  points,  and  hastily  cor- 
raled  or  fastened  to  fences  or  trees,  and  no  opportunity  occur- 
ring afterward  to  remove  them  until  the  water  went  down, 
were  found  drowned  or  barely  able  to  stand  alone  from  hun- 
ger, having  gnawed  the  fences  and  trees  to  which  they  were 
hitched,  till  it  was  ghastly  and  sickening  to  look  upon.  Many 
horses,  hogs  and  cattle  were  saved  from  the  parlors  and  best 
rooms  of  the  lower  stories  of  residences,  where  they  had  been 
driven  or  found  their  way  in,  and  there  some  of  them  re- 
mained, and  when  the  water  went  down  were  found  dead  on 
staircases  and  in  halls  and  parlors.  These  things  appear 
almost  incredible  since  the  flood  passed  away,  but  were  veri- 
table facts,  as  can  be  testified  to  by  hundreds.  Indeed,  it 
was  in  the  fine  bottom  lands  along  the  river  where  the  great- 
est trials  and  most  thrilling  scenes  occurred,  and  if  it  were 
possible  to  ascertain  individual  losses  of  fences,  buildings, 
crops  and  stock,  they  would  come  near  averaging  with  the 
towns  that  are  interspersed  along  between.  There  are  the 
Cheshire  bottoms,  below  Middleport.  The  fences  are  in  a 
manner  all  gone,  and  they  are  high  bottoms,  too.  The  river 
was  four  or  five  miles  wide  here,  and  the  village  of  Cheshire 
was  nearer  to  the  West  Virginia  hills  than  it  was  to  those  of 
( rallia  County.  Many  farmers  only  saved  their  stock  by 
making  huge  piles  of  straw  and  hay  and  huddling  their  cattle 
upon  them.  About  100  head  of  all  sorts  of  stock  was  rescued 
by  steamboats  from  Gallipolis.  The  loss  to  the  bottoms  and 


HISTORY    OF   THE    GREAT    FLOOD    OF    1884.  45 

to  the  village  was  great.  T.  R.  Weed  lost  $1,300 ;  Franklin 
Smith,  $600;  William  Boice,  $3,000;  Dayton  Ashworth, 
$1,500.  Frank  Boice  was  a  heavy  loser,  part  of  his  house 
being  turned  over  and  smashed  up.  The  St.  Charles  Hotel 
was  badly  damaged.  Resener  &  Co.  lost  heavily.  The 
Globe  Coal  Works  were  heavy  sufferers.  Milo  Guthrie, 
$500.  C.  A.  Carl  &  Co.,  coal  miners,  also  lose  heavily. 
Many  farmers  around  lost  cattle,  horses  and  hogs.  Wash. 
Swisher's  house  went  to  another  man's  farm.  The  people 
of  Cheshire  were  greatly  alarmed,  and  they  had  good  reason 
to  be,  as  the  water,  according  to  Captain  Alf.  Day's  marks, 
was  eight  feet  and  an  inch  above  last  year.  The  water  was 
flowing  several  feet  deep  through  the  village,  and  the  people 
were  all  trying  to  live  as  best  they  could  in  the  upper  stories 
of  their  houses.  The  water  was  nine  feet  deep  in  the  old 
Kyger  Church.  The  relief  boats  were  hailed  with  joy  and 
gratitude.  The  Pittsburg  towboat  Lioness  rendered  great 
aid  here  by  supplying  the  destitute  with  coal  and  taking 
stock  on  her  barges. 

Several  farmers  above  Cheshire  had  to  move  from  their 
homes,  among  them  Henry  Watson's  family,  William  Roush, 
Meek.  Switzer's  family,  Mrs.  Philanda  Watson,  and  others. 
After  the  water  subsided  Mr.  Sig.  Mauck  was  engaged  in 
drying  out  his  residence,  the  old  Joseph  Mauck  homestead, 
when  it  caught  fire  from  a  flue  made  defective  by  the  flood, 
and  burned  down.  Loss  about  $2,500.  At  Addison  thev 
had  hills  to  flee  to,  and  the  stock  in  that  vicinity  were  driven 
to  them.  The  houses  along  the  river,  however,  took  water. 
The  store  of  Mr.  D.  R.  S.  Schafter  was  flooded,  and  several 
families  were  obliged  to  move,  and  were  put  to  much  incon- 
venience and  loss.  Some  strange  and  novel  incidents  were 
met  with  in  these  bottoms,  such  as  rabbits,  cats,  rats,  and  all 
sorts  of  varmints  of  the  small  kind  being  "found  in  tree  tops. 
Snakes,  even,  were  found  in  some  bottom  lands  in  the  boughs 
of  the  trees,  and  some  are  known  to  have  been  killed  that 
were  over  five  feet  long,  the  remorseless  waters  driving  out  ot 
their  holes  everything  that  had  life,  and  putting  in  motion 
even  the  things  without  life. 

We  now  come  to  Point  Pleasant,  W.  Va.,  a  bright,  pros- 
perous little  city,  at  the  mouth  of  the  Kanawha  River.  To 
look  at  her  to-day, 

FEBRUARY  1O, 

one  can  hardly  refrain  from  tears.  The  Point  Pleasant  /?<%>- 
ister  is  authority  for  the  statement  that  the  water  was  six 


46  HISTORY    OF    THE    GREAT    FLOOD    OF    1884. 

feet  seven  inches  above  1832.  In  the  lower  part  of  the  city 
houses  were  overturned  and  swept  away,  and  many  poor 
people  left  homeless.  There  was  not  a  toot  of  dry  land  in 
the  town'.  The  Register  says  : 

"  In  Henderson,  just  across  the  Kanawha  River,  many  of  the  houses  have  been 
swept  away,  and  a  number  overturned  and  floated  from  their  foundations,  chief 
among  which  was  the  storehouse  of  Hutchinson  &  Co.,  and  the  dwelling  house 
of  Andy  Wilson,  together  with  its  contents.  Every  home  in  Point  Pleasant 
was  inundated,  except  the  residence  of  John  W.  English  and  the  old  cooper 
shop.  Those  fortunate  enough  to  have  two-storied  residences  moved  above  as 
the  flood  came,  and  provided  for  those  of  their  less  fortunate  fellow  beings,  so 
far  as  their  space  and  larder  would  admit.  Many  of  the  citizens,  with  com 
fortable  little  homes,  saw  their  all  swept  away  in  a  few  short  hours.  The 
hearthstones  of  many,  around  which  naught  save  happiness  and  peace  clustered, 
have  been  forever  rendered  desolate  by  an  angry  flood.  Circuit  Court,  which 
was  in  session,  saw  the  approach  of  the  flood,  and  gave  up  the  Court  House  to 
those  who,  at  that  early  hour,  the  5th  inst.,  were  compelled  to  flee  from  the 
waste  of  waters.  A  large  number  of  the  colored  people  sought  the  friendly 
shelter  of  the  comfortable  building,  and  many  moved  their  household  goods 
and  merchandise  therein,  and  remained  until  the  flood  abated.  The  water  was 
on  the  lower  floor  of  the  Court  House  four  feet  and  two  inches  by  actual  measure- 
ment, and  the  law  offices  on  that  floor  were  completely  submerged,  many  losing 
valuable  papers  and  law  books.  Simpson  &  Howard,  John  W.  English,  and 
John  E.  Timms  saved  their  libraries  almost  intact.  The  greatest  sufferers  were 
Menager,  Hogg  &  Spencer,  who,  besides  losing  many  of  their  books,  were  so 
unfortunate  as  to  get  the  valuable  law  library  of  the  late  H.  J.  Fisher,  which 
was  in  their  charge,  considerably  damaged.  Judge  Guthrie  and  John  A.  Gib- 
bons also  lost  some  of  their  books,  as  did  Tomlinson  &  Polsley.  Rankin  Wiley 
and  James  H.  Couch  escaped  with  but  little  damage  to  their  libraries.  During 
the  time  when  the  water  was  at  its  highest,  the  hardware  store  of  Mr.  W.  B. 
Cable  took  fire  from  slacking  lime,  and  burned  to  the  second  ston'.  His  loss 
will  exceed  $5,000  over  and  above  his  insurance  of  $3,500.  Everv  house  in 
town  that  had  a  second  story  above  water  was  crowded  to  its  utmost  capacity 
with  people.  Those  who  had  houses  on  high  ground,  whether  in  town  or  near 
to  it,  kindly  threw  open  their  doors  and  their  tables  to  the  distressed  people. 
The  Register  office  was  in  a  sorry  plight  indeed,  and  it  will  take  lots  ot  money 
to  put  it  in  the  condition  it  was  before  the  flood.  It  has  resumed  business  at 
the  same  old  stand,  however.  The  Gazette  was  more  fortunate.  The  office 
was  moved  to  the  upper  story  of  Dr.  Barbee's  office,  and  did  not  sustain  much 
damage.  A  couple  of  hundred  dollars  will  make  the  office  all  right  again. 
Colonel  Smith  rendered  great  service  to  the  people.  He  commanded  a  flat 
boat,  and  went  to  the  assistance  of  the  distressed  day  and  night.  It  will  take  a 
hundred  thousand  dollars  to  put  this  town  to  rights  again.  Mr.  Gideon  Brown, 
in  the  lower  end  of  the  county,  lost  some  $500  in  grain  and  fencing." 


HISTORY    OF   THE    GREAT    FLOOD    OF    1884.  47 

For  some  time  after  the  waters  fell  1,500  people  were  fed 
by  the  committees,  and  they  were  packed  in  the  unflooded 
upper  stories  like  sardines.  Two  hundred  and  fifty  were  in 
the  second  story  of  the  court-house. 

We  give  Editor  Tippett's  experience  in  his  own  language, 
and  it  will  find  an  echo  in  the  heart  of  many  an  Ohio  River 
editor  who  ran  through  the  same  gauntlet  of  trouble : 

"  We  went  to  the  expense  of  moving  our  office  on  the  night  of  the  5th,  just  as 
the  water  was  coming  over  the  pavement  in  front  of  our  office.  We  placed  our 
stationery  and  types  in  the  office  of  Messrs.  Wiley  and  Couch,  which  was 
said  to  be  some  five  feet  higher  than  the  great  flood  of  1832,  but  notwithstand- 
ing this  precaution  all  our  material  was  completely  submerged,  and  our  types, 
stationery,  cases,  stands,  desks  and  office  furniture  danced  a  merry  jig  to  the 
laughing  waters.  Besides  this,  our  household  goods  and  wearing  apparel  of 
self  and  family  were  completely  submerged,  and  much  of  it  rendered  unfit  for 
use.  Our  house  was  also  badly  damaged,  and  all  our  out-buildings  floated  off 
and  fences  destroyed.  When  the  waters  had  receded  and  we  entered  our  resi- 
dence and  printing  office  building,  the  last  named  which  tried  to  leave  us,  our 
heart  was  dismayed,  and  we  were  discouraged,  and  almost  despaired  of  ever 
again  trying  to  regain  our  former  position,  but  when  we  reflected  that  th  re 
were  many  others  who  were  greater  sufferers,  we  looked  at  the  matter  philo- 
sophically, and  at  once  determined  to  do  or  die.  Our  house  is  now  rather 
habitable,  and  we  issue  this  paper  from  our  old  office,  yet  incrusted  with  mud, 
and  with  difficulty  have  picked  enough  type  from  our  leaky  cases,  filled  with 
mud,  to  print  it.  Only  those  who  have  tried  to  get  out  a  paper  under  such  cir- 
cumstances can  appreciate  our  trial.  We  propose  to  stay  among  our  friends 
and  assist  in  whatever  way  we  can  to  rebuild  this  town  and  help  her  gain  that 
position  among  towns  that  she  ought  to  hold.  Then  let  us  all  go  to  work  and 
help  one  another.  There  is  no  use  to  stand  around  regretting  and  pining  over 
our  losses.  The  only  way  to  recover  is  by  hard  and  constant  vrork." 

We  append  the  following  list  of  losses,  as  given  by  the 
Mason  County  (Point  Pleasant)  Gazette,  with  some  slight 
alterations : 

E.  J.  Mossman.  $400  ;  J.  H.  Gilmore,  $400 ;  Mrs.  Jennie  Martin,  $500  ;  the 
Misses  Risk,  $200;  Isaiah  Gibbs,  $300;  Gazette,  $200  ;  C.  C.  Miller  (County), 
$3:000;  Wm.  Smith,  $2,500;  J.  W.  Bryan,  $1,200;  C  apt.  Jos.  Hein,  $2,400; 
P.  S.  Lewis  (County),  $5,000  ;  E.  S.  Bright  (Brighton),  $3,500 ;  W.  T. 
Wiley  (County).  $1,500 ;  Jas.- H.  Couch  (County),  $4,000;  Sam'l  &  Peter 
Couch  (County),  $4,000 ;  J.  H.  Miller  &  Co.  (County),  $6,000 ;  Jas.  W. 
Long  (County),  £3,000;  W.  A.  Long  (County),  $4,000 ;  Jno.  R.  Couch 
(County),  $2,000;  J.  B.  M.  McGuffin  (County),  $1.500;  and  down  in  Mercers 
Bottom:  C.  T.  Beale,  $2,000;  J.  W.  Steenbergen,  $6,000  ;  Jos.  Arrington, 
$1,500;  Judge  Moore,  $2,000;  C.  M.  Moore,  $2,000;  E.  L.  Neale,  $1,500  ~, 


48  HISTORY    OF    THE    GREAT    FLOOD    OF    1884. 

John  S.  Hanlvv,  $1,000  ;  A.  A.  Hanly,  and  Hanly  &  Neale,  $3,000;  total, 
$64,400.  But  this  does  not  include  damaged  dwellings  or  houses  swept  away. 
The  following  suffered,  some  very  heavily,  in  various  ways,  but  the  amounts 
are  not  estimated  :  Dr.  L.  F.  Campbell,  Dr.  W.  S.  Hoy,  Dr.  S.  G.  Shaw, 
Kline  House  Stable,  T.  Stribling  Stable,  W.  B.  Cable,  five  buildings  moved; 
school-house,  colored  school-house,  both  Crooked  Creek  bridges,  Perry 
Kenwood,  Gibbs  Bros.,  three  houses;  G.  B.  Thomas'  iron  roofing  factory,  A.  C. 
Vangilder,  Geo.  Jordan,  Col.  J.  P.  R.  B.  Smith,  B.  Gilmore,  J.  D.  McCullough, 
P.  C.Eastham,  J.  S.  O.  Roark  &  Co.,  Friedman  &  Co  ,  Hess  &  Co.,  B.  Frank- 
lin, J.  G.  Stortz,  Mrs.  Vollerts,  Misses  Jones,  Geo.  B.  Sayre,  Polsley  &  Shaw, 
and  scores  of  others  in  the  town  and  country. 

Turning  up  the  Kanawha  River,  we  find  scarcely  a  farm 
but  was  damaged,  and  some  to  a  great  extent,  the  water 
reaching  from  hill  to  hill,  as  it  did  in  the  Ohio,  and  often- 
times between  four  and  five  miles  between  the  hills. 

The  town  of  Leon,  thirteen  miles  up  the  Kanawha.  suf- 
fered severely.  There  was  hardly  a  house  in  the  town  but 
what  was  submerged,  and  many  were  moved  from  their 
foundations.  The  merchants  lost  heavily  by  having  their 
goods  damaged.  The  loss  to  the  timber  men  along  Thirteen- 
Mile  creek,  in  saw  logs,  lumber,  staves,  railroad  ties  and 
tan-bark,  can  hardly  be  estimated.  Many  people  in  that  part 
of  the  county  have  lost  their  accumulations  of  years,  and 
now  find  themselves  without  a  cent  in  the  world.  The  town 
presented  the  appearance  of  a  huge  pile  of  blocks,  all  thrown 
promiscuously  together,  but  the  people  were  very  "gritty" 
and  at  no  time  were  much  inclined  to  receive  aid  without 
paying  for  it.  Besides  several  houses  being  carried  off,  the 
county  bridge  across  "Thirteen"  was  washed  to  pieces. 

Leaving  Leon,  we  strike  out  for  Buffalo.  Hardly  a  man  we 
meet  but  tells  of  stock  drowned,  fences,  cribs,  granaries, 
carriage  houses,  smoke-houses,  or  barns  carried  away,  to- 
gether with  corn,  hay,  and  fodder.  The  sight  all  along  is  a 
sad  one.  Staves,  cross  ties  and  saw  logs  adorn  the  banks 
on  both  sides,  and  in  some  places  seem  to  have  been  carried 
high  up  on  the  hill  sides  by  the  mighty  tide.  The  Ohio 
Central  Railroad  is  in  a  fearful  condition  from  Point  Pleas- 
ant to  Buffalo — not  a  trestle  or  bridge  standing,  with  the 
exception  of  the  bridge  across  "Eighteen."  Some  of  the 
bridges  are  nearly  washed  oft*  the  abutments,  others  are 
turned  upside  down.  Forces  are  at  work  repairing,  but  it 
will  be  a  long  time  before  trains  are  running  to  Charleston 
again  from  Point  Pleasant.  Some  sickening  stories  are  told 
of  want  and  destitution  in  the  lower  part  of  the  Kanawha 


HISTORY    OF    THE    GREAT    FLOOD    OF   1884.  49 

Valley  when  the  waters  were  at  their  highest ;  hard  to  be- 
lieve now,  but  from  what  has  come  under  our  own  observation, 
we  have  no  reason  to  dispute  them,  though  it  would  have 
taken  too  much  time  and  research  to  answer  the  purposes  of 
a  work  like  this,  to  have  ascertained  the  exact  facts  in  all 
cases.  It  is  said,  and  we  believe  it  to  be  true,  that  several 
women  suffered  confinement,  almost  entirely  without  protec- 
tion, in  the  pitiless  storm  of  February  loth  and  nth.  One 
lady  gave  birth  to  a  boy  baby  in  a  skiff  in  the  darkness  of 
night,  while  the  rain  was  pouring  down  in  torrents,  and 
while  being  conveyed  to  a  place  of  safety  by  her  husband, 
who  had  been  the  whole  day  gone  in  search  of  a  skiff,  and 
only  arriving  in  time  to  rescue  his  wife  and  little  boy,  while 
she  was  in  the  pangs  of  labor. 

The  flood  was  very  disastrous  to  Buffalo,  inundating  the 
lower  ground  of  the  town  and  submerging  about  50  houses, 
some  of  them  almost  entirely.  "  The  citizens  of  the  flooded 
portions  were  compelled  to  seek  the  more  elevated  parts  of 
the  town  for  temporary  habitation.  Among  those  who  lost 
merchandise  were  L.  A.  Carr  &  Co.,  John  Nease,  Robert 
Alexander,  C.  C.  Workman  and  Mrs.  Horn.  The  wants  of 
the  Buffalo  people  were  readily  looked  after  by  the  Govern- 
ment boats,  Winona  and  Bee."  Mr.  L.  A.  Carr  deserves 
credit  for  the  charity  extended  by  him  to  the  sufferers.  He 
ordered  the  Telephone  there  (  he  being  the  President  of  the 
Kanawha  Packet  Line  )  from  Gallipolis,  on  the  loth,  to  save 
lives  and  property,  and  invited  all  the  citizens  of  the  town 
to  come  on  board  of  her  and  the  Sallie  Freeze  (  another  boat 
of  the  line  )  and  stay  and  sleep  and  eat  until  the  flood  was 
over.  The  people  were  only  too  glad  to  accept  his  kind 
offer.  Her  little  sister  town  of  Win  field,  more  fortunate  in 
being  above  the  tide,  sent  about  $100  worth  of  provisions  for 
her  immediate  use,  and  she  did  not  come  to  actual  want,  but 
yet  so  near  that  the  recollection  of  February  loth,  1884,  will 
never  fade.  Not  only  will  the  bitterness  of  that  day  be 
remembered,  but,  as  a  citizen  said  to  us,  "  neither  will  the 
brotherly  kindness  manifested  by  all  on  that  terrible  occasion 
ever  be  forgotten."  If  the  people  had  dreamed  of  the  water 
reaching  the  height  it  did,  they  could  have  made  ample  pre- 
paration and  saved  themselves  from  all  loss  on  household 
goods  and  stocks  of  merchandise,  at  least ;  but  with  stoves,  pro- 
visions and  bed  clothing,  and  all  other  clothing,  except  what 
they  had  on  their  backs,  under  water,  they  came  through  the 
vale  of  suffering  right  side  up.  The  bridge  below  Buffalo  is 


50  HISTORY    OF   THE    GREAT    FLOOD    OF    1884. 

wrecked  and  the  road  caved  in,  and  will  be  a  great  loss  to  the 
town  and  neighborhood. 

Above  Buffalo  there  was  no  suffering  except  in  isolated 
cases  of  farmers,  whose  wants  and  necessities  were  in  a 
great  measure  immediately  relieved  by  friendly  neighbors  ; 
but  there  were  the  usual  losses  in  lowlands,  such  as  have 
been  heretofore  depicted.  Fortunate  indeed  was  it  that  the 
Great  Kanawha  did  not  reach  some  of  its  more  formidable 
heights,  or  the  scenes  in  the  Valley  would  have  been  too 
great  to  have  been  told  in  a  work  of  the  dimensions  of  this. 
As  a  matter  of  interest  and  reference  we  append  the  follow- 
ing from  the  Charleston  Tribune: 

From  the  U.  S.  Engineer's  office  we  obtain  the  following  interesting  data, 
showing  the  water  gauge  in  the  Kanawha  at  Charleston:  Nov.  25,  1877,111 
1:30  P.  M.,  35.10  feet ;  Sept.  14,  1878,  at  2:00  p.  M.,  41.60  feet;  Jan.  14  1879.  at 
2:00  A.  M.,  36.60  feet;  Feb.  8,  1883.  at  6:00  A.  M.,  25.95  feet>  Feb.  12,  1883, 
at  12:00  M.,  26.05  feet;  April  i,  1883,  at  11:30  A.  M.,  25.09  feet;  April  7,  1883, 
at  S:3o  A.  M.,  25.35  feet;  Feb.  12,  1884,  at  4:00  p.  M.,  28.80  feet.  The  frohet 
in  September,  1878,  brought  the  water  along  Virginia  Street,  so  that  skiff* 
passed  from  the  woolen  mills  up  as  far  as  Col.  Appleton's  residence  on  Dun- 
bar  Street.  On  the  Virginia  Street  Square,  where  the  Tribune  office  now 
stands,  only  a  few  feet  along  the  pavements  remained  above  the  flood.  This  is 
the  highest  tide  in  this  city  for  the  last  fourteen  years.  The  renowned  1832 
freshet  is  said  to  have  reached  a  point  several  feet  higher. 

Returning  from  the  Kanawha  and  entering  the  Ohio,  we 
are  confronted  with  the  little  village  of  Fair  Haven,  Ohio, 
opposite  Point  Pleasant.  It  was  generally  flooded  to  the 
depth  of  several  feet,  the  water  extending  clear  back  to  the 
Ohio  Hills,  and  so  clear  on  down  the  Ohio  to  Mill  Creek, 
above  Gallipolis,  a  distance  of  four  miles.  There  were  very 
few  farmers  (none  in  the  bottoms),  even  those  living  upon 
the  highest  knolls  and  points  and  closest  to  the  hills,  but  had 
to  move,  and  were  swept  bare  of  fences,  dwellings  or  out- 
houses, and  put  to  great  loss  and  labor  in  saving  stock  and 
property,  and  indeed,  in  many  instances,  could  have  saved 
-nothing  had  it  not  been  for  timely  aid  received  from  sympa- 
thizing friends  below.  The  residence  of  Mr.  Emery  Bailey, 
on  the  Ohio  side,  below  the  mouth  of  the  Kanawha,  was 
located  just  after  the  flood  of  1832,  and  is  the  verv  highest 
.point  off  of  the  hills  between  the  mouth  of  the  Kanawha 
-.and  Gallipolis.  At  that  time  the  water  did  not  come  over  it, 
"but  it  was  now  four  feet  in  the  house.  From  Fair  Haven 
down  to  Mill  Creek,  above  Gallipolis,  the  losses  foot  up,  in- 


HISTORY    OF   THE    GREAT   FLOOD    OF    1884.  51 

eluding  Fuller,  Hutsinpiller  &  Co.'s  lumber,  piled  at  Gate- 
wood  &  Co.'s  saw-mill,  and  Gatewood  &  Co.'s  damage  to 
mill  machinery,  fully  $12,000.  This  is  in  the  territory  of  river 
bottom,  about  one  mile  deep,  by  about  four  miles  of  river 
front.  Those  who  suffered  mostly  are  as  follows  :  Jas.  Black, 
Reuben  Alien,  Frank  Guthrie,  Wm.  Stone,  Henry  Shepard, 
John  Sanns,  John  T.  Hampton,  Edward  Willis,  John  Roth- 
geb,  Emery  Bailey,  S.  G.  Keller,  Mrs.  Sarah  Graham. 
Sam'l  Logue.  Capt.  J.  J.  Maxon,  Adam  Carter,  Mrs.  Joshua 
Canaday.  These  all  come  under  $1,000.  Those  who  lost 
$1,000  and  upwards  are  as  follows  :  John  Deem,  John  Bryan, 
C.  D.  Bailey,  D.  W.  Davies,  Gatewood  &  Co.,  and  Fuller, 
Hutsinpiller  &  Co. 

Jake  Banks,  Joshua  Page,  Adam  Carter,  Joe  Webster, 
Gaines,  the  plasterer;  Jas.  Viney,  all  colored,  and  John  M. 
Cherry,  the  carpenter  ;  Isaiah  Walters,  Jas.  Peck,  Sam  Logue, 
E.  S.  Tippins,  Basil  Betz,  Jas.  Compton,  Mrs.  Henshaw  and 
Mr.  Clinger,  all  living  above  Mill  Creek,  had  to  move  out  ol 
their  houses. 

Passing  Gallipolis  for  the  present,  which  was  entirely  sur- 
rounded with  water,  bv  Mill  Creek  emptying  into  the  Ohio 
above,  and  Chickamauga  Creek  below,  their  waters  uniting 
between  the  town  and  the  hills  behind,  and  the  broad,  sweep- 
ing river  in  front,  but  the  city  itself  above  water,  we  will 
note  the  situation  of  Millersport  and  Athalia,  villages  below, 
in  their  order. 

We  are  indebted  to  Dr.  H.  V.  Sanns,  of  Millersport,  for  an 
account  of  the  situation  of  things  there.  The  Doctor  writes: 
Millersport  suffered  severely  from  the  flood.  Two-thirds  of 
our  village  lies  on  very  low  ground,  the  other  third  more  ele- 
vated and  known  as  "  The  Raise."  The  water  in  places  was 
eighteen  feet  deep,  and  averaged  about  twelve  feet  on  the 
low  ground,  and  about  five  feet  on  "  The  Raise."  There  were 
only  two  houses  in  the  place  not  in  water.  Eighteen  dwell- 
ings floated  entirely  away  ;  also  one  drug  store,  one  millinery 
store,  and  one  cooper  shop  ;  six  dwellings  floated  oft'  their 
foundations  that  did  not  leave  the  town.  [The  drug  store  al- 
luded to  was  the  property  of  Andy  Griffith,  and  was  taken 
ashore  at  Ashland  ;  Reckard  &  Hay  got  all  their  goods  on 
the  wharf-boat  and  saved  themselves  from  great  loss.J  A 
store  house  belonging  to  J.  M.  Bakerfloated  off,  and  lodged 
in  an  orchard  a  hundred  yards  away.  All  outbuildings  and 
UMIO-S  in  the  lower  part  of  town  floated  off.  The  total  loss  is 
e>timaled  here  at  $11,000,  Mr.  A.  Griffith  being  the  heaviest 


52  HISTORY    OF   THE    GREAT   FLOOD    OF   1884. 

loser.  The  loss  at  Athalia  was  about  $9,000,  Mr.  Robert 
Wylie  being  the  largest  loser  at  that  place.  The  town  is  sit- 
uated similar  to  Millersport,  a  portion  being  very  low  land. 
Eight  dwellings,  one  drug  store,  four  cooper  shops,  besides 
all  outbuildings,  were  carried  off  here.  The  depth  of  the 
water  over  the  town  was  about  the  same  as  at  Millersport, 
and  there  were  also  two  houses  there  not  in  the  water.  The 
farmers  living  between  the  two  towns  lost  very  heavily,  mostly 
in  fences  and  fruit  trees.  We  are  at  this  date,  March  i3th, 
still  living  on  government  rations,  the  weather  having  been 
so  bad,  people  could  not  go  to  work.  Some  will  rebuild,  but 
quite  a  number  are  unable  to  do  so.  It  will  take  quite  a  while 
to  put  these  towns  back  as  they  were  before  the  flood. 

The  losses  below  Gallipolis,  on  the  Ohio  side,  began  at 
Clipper  Mill,  about  three  and  a  half  miles  down  the  river.  In 
this  region  the  principal  losers  were,  Mr.  Wm.  Kinder,  the 
John  Nesbit  estate,  Rev.  Hathaway,  on  the  old  Monroe  Coff- 
man  farm;  Ohio  Chapel,  Alf.  Kinder,  Mrs.  Cottrell,  Mrs. 
Phoebe  Willey,  Mrs.  Hempfield.  Below,  clear  on  down  to 
Chambersburg,  the  county  suffers  greatly  in  loss  of  bridges, 
viz.  :  The  Walker  iron  bridge,  the  bridge  at  Plymales,  the 
Pool  bridge,  Raccoon  bridge,  and  the  new  bridge  above 
Chambersburg.  These  bridges  cost  the  county  an  immense 
amount  of  money  ;  some  of  them  were  very  new,  all  of  them 
were  first-class.  In  the  Chambersburg  region,  Wm.  Barker's 
loss  is  about  $3,000;  Marshall  &  Wilhelm,  $200 ;  Wm. 
Marshall,  $300;  ^Walter  Thorniley,  $350;  Wallace  Thorn- 
iley,  $350;  Jehu  McDaniel,  $500;  W.  D.  Graham,  $400; 
Commissioner  Jacob  Riggs,  not  far  from  $1,000.  Bladens- 
burg,  a  village  a  few  miles  below  Chambersburg,  suffered 
slightly,  G.  R.  Smith  and  Col.  J.  H.  M.  Montgomery  being 
the  principal  losers,  suffering  to  the  extent  of  about  $500 
each.  The  losses  below  here  on  the  Ohio  side  were  princi- 
pally sustained  by  the  farmers  in  the  way  of  fences,  fodder, 
corn,  etc.  Crown  City  suffered  but  little. 

GREEN     BOTTOM. 

Green  Bottom,  W.  Va.,  was  one  of  the  unfortunate  locali- 
ties that  suffered  severely.  It  embraces  a  fine  farming 
country,  extending  from  Little  Guyan  to  Eighteen-Mile 
Creek,  or  about  opposite  to  Millersport,  Ohio.  The  cele- 
brated Jenkins  estate,  of  nearly  2,000  acres  of  land,  has  a 
river  front  in  Green  Bottom  of  about  seven  miles.  This  is 
where  the  late  General  Albert  Gallatin  Jenkins,  of  Confeder- 


HISTORY    OF   THE    GREAT    FLOOD    OF    1884.  53 

ate  fame,  lived,  and  his  brothers,  Dr.  Wm.  Jenkins  and  Jef- 
ferson Jenkins,  all  dead  now.  The  widows  of  the  Doctor 
and  Jefferson  still  live  on  these  old  farms.  Mrs.  S.  L.  Jen- 
kins, widow  of  Jefferson,  is  a  highly  educated  and  refined 
lady.  Her  maiden  name  was  Holderby.  She  is  a  graduate 
of  the  Ohio  Wesleyan  Female  College  at  Cincinnati,  and  at- 
tended there  at  the  same  time  Mrs.  R.  B.  Hayes  did,  and 
they  were  great  friends.  Mrs.  Jenkins  was  a  great  sufferer. 
Her  losses  will  amount  to  six  or  seven  thousand  dollars  by 
the  flood.  The  homestead  is  a  large  brick  mansion  of  four- 
teen rooms.  This  is  Left,  but  her  portico  and  all  frame  out- 
buildings were  swept  away,  and  much  valuable  furniture,  in- 
cluding a  $1,000  piano,  elegant  sideboard,  bookcase,  etc., 
entirely  ruined.  Twenty-one  tenement  houses  were  swept 
off  of  her  farm,  besides  fences  and  much  other  property.  A 
young  orchard  was  washed  up  by  the  roots.  Wheat  fields 
were  ruined  in  the  same  way.  Their  bee  hives  were  piled 
up  on  scaffolding  on  the  porch,  but  the  water  reached  them 
in  the  night  and  they  floated  off.  All  the  corn,  hay  and  pota- 
toes reserved  for  their  own  use  were  lost.  All  the  mills  in 
the  neighborhood  were  ruined.  Mrs.  J.'s  son  Jefferson  lost 
his  mill,  but  secured  the  engine  and  mill  after  the  flood,  and 
energetically  rebuilt.  All  the  laboring  portion  of  the  com- 
munity suffered  terribly  from  the  loss  of  these  mills,  not  being 
able,  many  of  the.m,  to  buy,  and  depending  on  their  own 
grain  for  breadstuff's.  During  the  height  of  the  waters  a 
woman  was  brought  over  from  Millersport  to  the  Dr.  Jenkins' 
farm,  at  3  o'clock  in  the  morning,  who  had  just  been  delivered 
of  a  child.  Mrs.  Jenkins'  situation  is  but  an  illustration  of 
nearly  all  that  had  as  much  to  lose  as  she,  but  notwithstand- 
ing her  losses,  and  notwithstanding  that  every  day  she  saw 
many  getting  rations  and  supplies  that  lived  in  the  hills  back, 
and  who  had  not  suffered,  she  steadily  refused  all  aid,  and 
would  hardly  let  one  of  her  tenants  do  so.  This  was  in 
bright  contrast  to  so  many  who  seemed  to  desire  to  hog  it  all 
in  and  divide  nothing.  • 

PROCTORVILLE, 

or  Quaker  Bottom,  next  engages  our  attention.  The  water 
reached  its  greatest  height  here  on  Tuesday, 

FEBRUARY    12, 

just  one  year  exactly  from  the  flood  of  1883,  and  seven  feet 
two  inches  higher  than  at  that  time.  Nearly  all  of  Proclor- 


54  HISTORY    OF    THE    GREAT    FLOOD    OF    1884. 

ville  was  under  water.  It  only  lacked  five  inches  of  getting 
into  the  Wilgus  residence.  There  was  two  feet  ot"  water  in 
Dr.  Rickett's  house,  and  three  feet  in  R.  W.  Magee's.  It 
was  away  up  in  the  Methodist  Church,  and  ruined  the  organ, 
and  did  much  other  damage.  Mr.  Mauck,  merchant,  got  his 
stock  well  out  and  lost  but  little.  Bush's  mill  suffered  much, 
damage.  William  Reckard  lost  all  his  tanbark.  The  col- 
ored settlement  in  the  Bottom  was  cleaned  out  as  it  never  was 
before.  Fences,  corn  and  hay  took  the  general  road  to  ruin. 
Miss  Emma  Beckett  was  buried  the  Sunday  previous,  the 
funeral  cortege  going  to  Rome  in  boats.  It  was  a  wilderness 
of  woe  in  every  direction.  Supplies  were  furnished  after  the 
flood  for  sixty  families.  A  letter  from  Mr.  James  P.  Beall,  a 
merchant  of  Proctorville,  to  his  mother,  Mrs.  Henry  Beall,  of 
this  city,  gives  a  pretty  good  idea  of  the  situation,  and  we 
make  some  extracts : 

PROCTORVILLE,  Ohio,  Feb.  17,  1884. 
Dear  Mother  and  Folks  at  Home: 

I  worked  myself  nearly  to  death  Saturday  (gth)  to  get  my  goods  three 
feet  above  the  floors  of  both  store  and  warehouse,  and  never  thought  of  watei 
reaching  them.  I  then  went  to  helping  others  in  lower  places.  I  carried  chil- 
dren from  the  second  stories  of  their  houses,  putting  them  in  skiffs  and  taking 
them  to  the  ferry  boat.  I  even  waded  in  the  water,  and  carried  men  in  and  out 
their  houses  to  enable  them  to  save  their  goods.  The  water  got  five  feet  deep 
in  my  store  and  four  feet  eight  inches  in  my  warehouse.  One  of  my  counters 
capsized  with  nearlv  ij^oo  worth  of  clothing  on  it,  and  left  the  clothing  covered 
with  sediment.  I  got  into  the  store  on  Wednesday  and  carried  the  clothing  to 
the  water  and  threw  it  in,  getting  all  the  dirt  off  we  could,  and  then  stretched 
lines  and  hung  it  out  to  dry.  My  boots  and  shoes  were  also  in  bad  shape. 
Cashmeres,  worsteds,  domestics,  prints,  etc.,  suffered  in  the  same  way.  In  the 
wareroom  I  had  nine  barrels  of  sugar,  which  came  to  total  loss.  Sacks  ot 
coffee  and  barrels  of  rice  swelled  and  bursted. .  Corn,  wheat,  pork,  molasses, 
nails  vinegar,  lard,  and  both  of  my  wheat  scales,  and  100  bushels  of  potatoes 
that  I  had  carried  from  the  cellar,  and  many  other  smaller  articles,  were  soaked 
in  water.  Horses,  hogs  and  cows  were  taken  to  the  hills  on  the  ferry  boat. 
Mr.  B.  J.  Robinso^i  and  rnyself  took  our  pails  and  went  to  milk  for  the  benefit 
of  those  who  were  living  in  the  second  stories.  I  got  a  few  ears  of  corn  and  a 
halter,  and  would  give  one  bite  to  a  cow  while  Mr.  R.  did  the  milking.  If  she 
failed  to  stand  we  would  lasso  her  to  a  tree.  We  also  killed,  dressed  and 
cooked  chickens  at  Mr.  Jacob  Proctor's  house.  These  good  people  assisted  me 
greatly,  besides  many  others,  with  my  goods.  Mv  loss  will  not  be  less  than 
$2,000;  from  that  to  $2,500.  Our  town,  however,  fared  better  than  many 
others.  Many  people  floated  off  in  their  houses  along  the  river. 

Your  obedient  son, 

JAMES  P.  BEAI.L. 


HISTORY    OF    THE    GREAT    FLOOD    OF    1884.  55- 

The  following  persons  in  Proctorville  had  their  houses 
float  oft' of  their  foundations:  Thomas  Losey,  C.  P.  Tracy, 
Clark  Bros.,  Calohan  Miller,  Benjamin  Neal,  Lewis  Jones, 
James  M.  White,  George  W.  McComas.  The  water  was  in 
every  residence  in  town  except  those  of  Captain  George  W. 
Bay  and  Mr.  Charles  Wilgus.  Some  90  or  100  families, 
were  obliged  to  move.  Many  took  their  pigs  into  their  par- 
lors, but  soon  found  that  would  not  do,  and  moved  them  up- 
stairs with  the  balance  of  the  family.  William  G.  Smith 
took  his  ferry  boat  up  Front  Street  to  Bush  Bros',  mill,  and 
took  on  sixty  barrels  of  flour,  and  brought  it  to  the  B.  T.  Enos, 
to  keep  it  from  being  carried  off  by  the  water.  The  Enos  took 
the  flour  and  crossed  the  water  back  of  the  town  to  the  hill, 
and  tied^ip  at  the  lower  end  of  Magee's  orchard. 

At  Haskellville,  R.  W.  Wiley,  merchant,  lost  his  cooper 
shop  with  4,000  nail  kegs,  500  flour  barrels,  400  apple  bar- 
rels, and  had  his  machinery  and  shop  damaged  to  the  extent 
of  $3,000.  Thomas  Losey  lost  his  home  and  contents.  He 
had  nine  in  family,  and  when  driven  out  only  had  four  days* 
rations.  Clark  Bros,  and  John  A.  Bowen  lost  considerable 
in  staves,  poles,  etc. 

Gwinn  Brothers,  at  Glenwood,  Ohio,  have  furnished  us 
with  the  following  list  of  losses  between  Eighteen  and  Little 
Guyan :  Henry  Gwinn,  $500;  Gwinn  Bros. ,$900;  C.  W> 
Hogsett,  $500;  Joseph  A.  McClary,  $75;  J.  E.  Hannan,. 
$125  -  H.  C.  Campbell,  $1,200;  Jesse  Wells,  $225  ;  George 
Barrows,  $50;  E.  C.  Hannan,  $100;  E.  S.  Hannan,  $200. 

The  following  chapter  on  Guyandotte  is  from  the  pen  of 
J.  R.  Wiatt,  Esq.,  a  citizen  of  that  place : 

"  On  the  morning  of  February  8th,  our  people  awoke  to  find  Guyandotte  sur- 
rounded by  water,  which  continued  to  advance  steadily  at  the  rate  of  three 
inches  an  hour  throughout  the  whole  of  that  day.  By  twelve  o'clock  a  great 
many  houses  in  the  lower  portion  of  the  town  were  flooded,  and  the  building, 
of  boats  and  rafts,  and  the  moving  of  live  stock  to  the  hills  back  of  town  began  in 
earnest.  Those  who  lived  in  two-story  houses  moved  to  the  second  floor,  and  their 
less  favored  neighbors  placed  their  household  goods  on  scaflfolds,and  moved  to  the 
school  house  and  Catholic  Church,  which  are  above  the  marks  of  the  greatest 
floods  of  which  we  have  any  record.  At  three  o'clock  on  the  morning  of  the  Qth, 
the  water  reached  the  maximum  height  of  1883,  and  continued  to  advance  at 
the  rate  of  two  inches  an  hour.  The  oldest  inhabitant  moved  his  perishable 
property  above  the  marks  of  '32  and  '47  (which  latter  at  this  place  is  just' one 
foot  above  the  mark  of  '83),  and  rested  content,  saying  it  was  impossible  that 
the  water  could  reach  him  there.  But  his  predictions  had  not  the  slightest 
tendency  to  stop  the  sullen  swelling  of  the  river,  which  continued  to  rise  two 


56  HISTORY    OF   THE    GREAT    FLOOD    OF    1884. 

inches  an  iiour  up  to  eleven  o'clock,  when  it  checked,  and  up  to  two  o'clock  in 
the  afternoon  had  not  risen  an  inch.  Hopes  were  entertained  that  the  worst 
was  over,  and  that  the  water,  now  ten  inches  higher  than  ever  before  known, 
would  soon  begin  to  recede.  But  it  was  soon  apparent  that  a  second  rise  w;is 
coming,  and  the  greatest  apprehensions  were  expressed  as  to  the  probable  con- 
sequences. Before  the  next  morning  there  was  not  a  foot  of  dry  land  in  the 
town.  At  seven  o'clock  on  the  morning  of  the  loth,  the  water  was  rising  at 
the  rate  of  one  inch  an  hour.  The  people  who  had  moved  to  the  second  stories 
of  their  houses,  and  who  had  neither  expected  nor  prepared  for  so  long  an  im- 
prisonment, began  to  be  in  want  for  fuel  and  provisions,  and  on  learning  of 
their  condition,  Joseph  Anderson,  J.  K.  Suiter  and  others,  procured  a  small 
lighter,  and  loading  it  with  coal  from  the  coal  yard  of  Freeman  &  Burks,  and 
with  provisions  from  the  grocery  of  A.  E.  Smith,  which  had  been  moved  to  the 
Odd  Fellows'  Hall,  proceeded  to  distribute  supplies  to  those  who  could  not 
help  themselves.  By  two  o'clock,  people  who  had  taken  refuge  m  the  two 
Methodist  churches  had  to  decamp,  and  were  removed  in  boats  to  the  railroad 
depots.  The  rate  of  the  rise  had  increased  to  one  and  a  half  inches  an  hour, 
and  as  the  shades  of  night  fell  like  the  shadows  of  doom  over  the  woe-stricken 
town,  to  add  to  the  horror  of  the  situation,  the  rain  poured  down  in  torrents. 
The  rise  continued  at  this  rate  throughout  the  entire  night.  On  the  morning  of 
the  nth,  the  sun  rose  on  the  turbulent  waters  sweeping  through  the  streets  at 
the  rate  of  five  miles  an  hour,  and  still  rising.  The  relief  boats  and  patrol  skiffs 
had  been  busy  all  night  moving  families  from  houses  in  which  the  wa4er  was 
getting  to  the  second  floor.  The  water  was  now  rising  one  inch  an  hour,  and 
the  suffering  and  distress  were  sensibly  increased  with  every  inch  of  advance. 
In  response  to  an  appeal  for  aid,  the  Secretary  of  War  telegraphed  Mayor  E. 
S.  Doolittle  to  expend  $500  in  provisions  for  actual  sufferers,  which  irrcluded 
at  least  half  the  entire  population.  This  with  the  timely  arrival  of  the  Galli- 
polis  and  Logan  Relief  Committees  on  the  Nora  Belle,  with  an  abundant  sup- 
ply of  cooked  provisions,  went  far  towards  alleviating  the  immediate  suffering. 
The  Mayor  appointed  J.  K.  Suiter,  Jos.  Anderson,  John  Hite,  Z.  T.  Welling- 
ton and  J.  D.  Sedinger  a  relief  committee.  The  committee  established  itself  in 
Dusenberry's  Hall,  and  distributed  supplies  in  boats.  The  water  reached  its 
maximum  height  at  three  o'clock  on  the  morning  of  the  I2th — seven  feet  and 
one  inch  higher  than  on  the  same  day  one  year  ago.  From  this  point  it  began 
to  fall,  but  it  was  not  until  the  evening  of  the  I7th  that  it  was  entirely  off  the 
streets.  The  water  was  from  four  to  twenty  feet  deep  all  over  the  town,  on  the 
first  floor  of  all  the  houses,  and  on  the  second  floor  of  a  great  many.  The 
view  from  the  hill  back  of  the  town  was  a  scene  of  desolation  beyond  de- 
scription. The  towns  of  Proctorville  and  Guyandotte  seemed  almost 
together  in  the  middle  of  a  sheet  of  water,  that  extended  from  hill  to 
hill.  The  hardy  mountaineers  of  Logan  County,  who  happened  to  be 
here  with  their  push  boats,  rendered  great  assistance.  On  the  morning  of  the 
1 4th  the  U.  S.  relief  boat  Katie  Stockdale  arrived,  and  left  a  liberal  supply  of 
provisions,  blankets,  clothing,  etc.,  and  was  followed  by  the  Claribell,  from  Gal- 
lipolis.  As  the  waters  abated,  the  scene  of  desolation  became  more  appalling 


HISTORY    OF    THE    GREAT    FLOOD    OF   1884.  57 

— houses  oft"  of  foundations,  fences  torn  up  and  the  streets  blockaded  with  im- 
mense piles  of  drift  of  every  description.  The  loss  of  the  town  cannot  be  ex- 
actly estimated,  but  is  not  less  than  $20,000.  The  following  is  a  list  of  the 
business  men  who  lost:  W.  H.  Douthit,  A.  E.  Smith,  A.  Roseberry,  L.  M. 
Darling,  Julius  Frentil,  Jno.  Scheneberg,  Page  &  Everett,  Page  &  Co.,  J.  L. 
Caldwell,  Wright  &  Co.,  Smith  &  Wellington,  Mr.  McCormick,  J.  L. 
Douthit,  John  Woodrum,  Phipps  &  Wells,  and  G.  Ritz.  Charleston,  Gallipolis 
and  Barboursville  responded  promptly  to  our  appeals  for  aid,  but  the  ambi- 
tious town  of  Huntington  halted  between  two  opinions — whether  to  pose  as  a 
high  and  dry  town,  or  acknowledge  the  corn,  and  call  for  assistance,  and  finally 
decided  on  the  latter  course.  The  money  and  goods  received  here  amounted 
to  about  $3,000.  Business  of  all  kinds  is  completely  prostrated.  It  will  be 
many  months  before  all  the  houses  are  repaired,  and  fences  replaced.  The  ef- 
fects of  the  flood  will  be  felt  for  years.  The  memory  of  it  will  last  for  genera- 
tions, and  the  ten-year-old  lad  of  to-day,  who  has  the  good  fortune  to  live  four 
score  years,  will  be  authority,  as  the  oldest  inhabitant,  tell  more  impossible 
stories  about  the  flood  of  1884  than  Moses  told  of  the  freshet  in  which  good  oid 
Noah  distinguished  himself." 

The  flood  at  high  tide  reached  Huntington  Tuesday, 

FEBRUARY    12, 

at  7  130  A.  M.,  being  sixty-three  feet,  against  fifty-six  feet  two 
inches  on  the  same  day  of  1883,  thirteen  hours  later,  making 
the  flood  of  1884  six  feet  ten  inches  above  1883.  The  Hunt- 
ington Advertiser  says  that  the  high  waters  of  1832  and  1847 
both  reached  the  same  notch  at  that  point  (fifty-eight  feet 
nine  inches),  and  were  just  four  feet  three  and  a  half  inches 
lower  than  February  12,  1884.  It  stood  three  feet  six  inches 
deep  on  Third  Avenue,  between  Ninth  and  Tenth  Streets,  and 
extended  eastward  on  that  thoroughfare  to  a  point  about  half 
way  belween  Eleventh  and  Twelfth  Streets.  From  this  point 
to  half  way  between  Thirteenth  and  Fourteenth  Streets,  this 
avenue  was  out  of  water — the  exact  point  being  at  the  ice- 
house of  J.  W.  Verlander,  next  door  to  H.C.  Harvey's  resi- 
dence. 

'•  On  Fourth  Avenue  the  water  was  eighteen  inches  deep  between  Eighth 
Street  and  Eleventh  Street,  and  something  deeper  both  east  and  west  of  these 
points.  All  of  the  cross  streets  were  covered  from  the  river  to  Fourth  Avenue 
except  Twelfth  and  Thirteenth  Streets.  At  the  Advertiser  office,  on  Ninth 
Street,  between  Third  and  Fourth  Avenues,  the  water  was  fourteen  inches 
deep,  and  stood  ten  and  a  half  inches  deep  on  the  floors  of  the  office.  The  store 
rooms  on  Second  Avenue  had  from  five  to  eight  feet  of  water  on  their  floors, 
and  on  Third  Avenue  they  ranged  from  four  feet  at  Seventh  Street,  to  three 
and  a  fourth  at  Ninth.  Tenth  and  Eleventh  Streets.  Marshall  College  was  about 


58  HISTORY    OF   THE    GREAT    FLOOD    OF    1884. 

ten  feet  above  the  flood.  The  Ensign  Car  Works  had  L-ight  feet  of  water.  The 
old  Holderby  mansion  had  two  feet  on  its  first  floors.  At  West  Huntington, 
in  T.  W.  Taylor's  dwelling,  the  water  lacked  six  inches  of  reaching  the  second 
floor.  J.  W.  Verlander's  tine  brick  residence  had  twentv-one  inches  on  the 
second  floor.  Three  or  four  small  frame  dwellings  were  moved  from  their 
foundati  ins,  but  none  were  washed  away.  At  St.  Cloud,  one  and  one-fourth 
miles  below  Huntington,  six  houses  were  carried  oft",  one  belonging  to  Mr. 
Leete,  three  to  Jethro  Parsons,  and  two  to  McCullough  and  Couch,  of  Mason 
County,  West  Virginia.  A  large  number  of  people  from  the  section  of  the 
citv  where  the  houses  were  invaded  by  the  water  were  quartered  in  the  city 
building  and  school  houses,  and  rationed  ;  besides,  a  large  number  of  people  who 
did  not  leave  their  flooded  houses,  were  cared  for  and  fed.  The  total  number  of 
people  thus  fed  by  the  relief  committee  in  this  city  was  280." 

The  losses  in  Hunlington  for  1883  and  1884,  by  reason  of 
the  flood,  must  have  been  large,  though  no  estimate  at  this 
time  has  been  made  public.  She  was  placed  at  great  incon- 
venience, however,  and  800  people,  the  Huntington  Commer- 
cial said,  had  to  be  fed  from  the  general  supply  fund  for  flood 
sufferers.  She  saw  the  "  elephant "  enough  to  make  her 
twice  happv,  it  is  certain,  and  we  hope  it  is  for  the  last  time. 

West  Huntington,  says  the  Huntington  JVetcs,  was  all  in- 
undated, there  being  no  houses  but  that  the  families  had  to 
move  out,  or  upstairs ;  many  of  the  smaller  houses  were 
moved  from  their  foundations,  and  the  larger  ones  badlv  dam- 
aged. 

While  the  water  was  yet  in  the  city  the  house  of  Charles 
Peyton,  in  West  Huntington,  still  standing  in  the  water,  was 
found  to  be  on  fire  ;  the  fire  engine  could  not  get  to  it  on  ac- 
count of  the  mud,  and  the  house,  with  all  its  furniture,  which 
had  already  been  greatly  damaged  by  water,  was  burned  to 
the  water's  edge.  It  is  supposed  to  be  the  work  of  an  incen- 
diary. 

The  C.  &  O.  R.  R.  officials  offered  free  transportation  for 
all  provisions  and  supplies  sent  along  its  route  to  the  Ohio 
River  sufferers,  and  also  had  several  boats  built,  which  were 
for  the  free  use  of  any  of  their  employes. 

The  water  was  from  four  to  six  feet  deep  in  all  the  stores 
on  Third  Avenue,  between  Eighth  and  Eleventh  Streets,  the 
business  portion  of  Huntington. 

As  to  the  depth  of  water,  the  Republican  says:  "The 
water  attained  a  height  of  six  feet  seven  and  three-fourths 
inches  above  the  rise  of  last  year,  which  placed  the  water  in 
ihe  channel  of  the  river  at  sixty-two  feet  nine  and  three- 
fourths  inches." 


HISTORY    OF    THE    GREAT    FLOOD    OF    1884.  59 

A  great  number  of  snakes  were  seen  during  the  flood,  in 
the  upper  end  of  town,  that  had  been  driven  by  the  water  to 
trees.  In  one  instance  a  large  black  snake  was  seen  coiled 
partially  about  a  knob  on  the  door  of  a  dwelling  on  Third 
Avenue. 

In  Rockwood,  Ohio,  opposite  Huntington,  several  houses 
were  floated  from  the  foundations,  and  a  few  carried  out  in 
the  river.  Only  two  houses  on  the  river  front  remain  in 
position.  Indeed,  there  was  nothing  but  destruction  to  see, 
look  whichever  way  you  might  along  the  .river — one  con- 
tinued panorama  of  passing  woe  to  earthly  possessions,  such 
as  is  not  witnessed  more  than  once  in  the  life  of  any  man. 

Immediately  below  Huntington  lie  Burlington,  Ceredo,  and 
South  Point.  Burlington  is  one  of  the  ancient  landmarks  of 
Lawrence  County.  Her  people  viewed  the  flood  in  security. 
They  saw  the  whirlwind  as  it  passed,  but  felt  not  its  touch  or 
breath.  The  backwater  covered  the  fields  behind  her  to  a 
depth  of  twelve  or  fifteen  feet  in  places,  and  destroyed  some 
fences  and  hay,  but  brought  no  one  to  want  or  destitution. 
Around  Charley  and  Buffalo  Creeks,  above,  a  few  persons 
were  driven  from  their  homes,  but  the  damage  was  slight. 
The  site  of  Burlington  must  be  about  on  a  level  with  Galli- 
polis,  for  it  would  have  taken  from  seven  to  eight  feet  more 
of  water  to  have  damaged  her.  South  Point  also  has  a  high 
location,  yet  a  few  in  the  low  lands  suffered  to  some  extent, 
and  were  driven  from  their  houses.  All  that  we  heard  ot 
were  as  follows :  William  Elkins,  John  Ricketts,  Samuel 
Kowns,  William  Johnson.  S.  K.  Chatfield,  John  Owens,  and 
Robert  Hale.  The  latter  moved  into  the  church.  J.  P. 
Shipton's  first  floor,  and  S.  White's  grocery,  had  the  dust 
laid  on  them,  and  that  was  about  all.  Mr.  Davidson's  resi- 
dence was  surrounded.  The  water  was  over  the  engine  in 
the  South  Point  Flouring  Mill,  and  the  back  water  formed  a 
large  stream  between  the  river  and  the  Baptist  Church,  suffi- 
cient to  make  it  navigable  for  big  steamboats.  Many  of  the 
farmers  lost  largely  in  fences. 

Ceredo,  W.  Va.,  suffered  great  damage.  The  large  num- 
ber of  288  persons  had  to  be  furnished  with  supplies  as  soon 
as  it  was  possible  to  reach  them. 

Catlettsburg,  Ky.,  was  one  of  the  little  cities  on  which  the 
flood  bore  heavily.  Think  of  a  town  being  under  water  for 
twelve  long  days.  It  was  a  fearful  experience.  Over  1,500 
people  were  driven  from  their  homes,  and  500  more  lived  in 
the  second  and  third  stories  of  their  houses,  surrounded  by  a 


(50  HISTORY    OF   THE    GREAT    FLOOD    OF 

sea  of  water.  The  water  exceeded  by  six  feet  ten  inches  the 
flood  of  1883.  The  scene  here,  when  the  river  was  at  its 
highest,  was  one  never  to  be  forgotten.  Every  street  sub- 
merged, and  houses  here  and  there,  on  every  street,  turned 
over  on  sides  and  on  end,  weaving  and  shaking  about, 
breaking  with  every  wave  that  jostled  them.  Many  with 
comfortable  and  happy  homes  before  the  flood,  have  now 
nothing  but  their  bare  lots  to  look  upon.  We  take  the  list  of 
sufferers  below  from  the  Ashland  (Ky.)  Democrat.  T.  D. 
Marcum,  the  editor,  says  in  connection,  that  it  is  only  a 
partial  list,  he  having  been  unable  to  go  where  the  loss  was 
greatest.  J\lorc  than  one  hundred  thousand  dollars  is  a  fright- 
ful levy  to  be  laid  on  a  prosperous  little  community,  and  on 
short  notice,  too.  If  it  could  have  fallen  upon  the  Kentucky 
Legislature  it  would'nt  have  been  so  bad : 

Noah  Wellman,  Mims  &  Borders,  Barton  &  Wolfe,  John  M.  Porter,  Z.  C. 
Vinson,  P.  S.  Marcum,  A.  J.  Baker,  J.  W.  Garrison,  Smith,  Mitchell  &  Co.; 
Joe  Ziegler,  D.  W.  Eba,  Ree.  Vaughn,  J.  W.  Damron,  Damron  &  Honshell, 
W.  J.  Williamson,  Ratliff  &  Bowles,  S.  Bishop,  F.  M.  Wellman,  Patton  &  Bro., 
W.  A.  Patton,  Pawpaw  Printing  Co.,  J.  S.  Wood,  S.  P.  Hager,  John  B.  Brom- 
ley, John  B.  Wellman,  G.  W.  Andrews,  W.  A.  Anderson  &  Son,  John  I. 
Williamson,  C.  Runyon,  H.  W.  Covington,  C.  W.  Berger,  M.  B.  Goble,  D. 
H.  Carpenter,  Mrs.  Delila  McCoy,  Wellman  &  Prichard,  J.  A.  Wellman,  J.  L. 
N.  Dickens,  R.  B.  Owens,  Presbyterian  Church,  W.  B.  Williams  &  Co.,  A. 
Lark,  Wm.  Bruns,  Fred.  Bruns,  E.  R.  Sample,  Mrs.  Margaret  Easthan,  W.  H. 
Nickles  &  Son,  D.  S.  Martin  &  Co.,  J.  C.  Gunther,  C.  &  O.  Railroad,  C.  S. 
Ulem,  C.  L.  McConnell,  Herman  Krish,  Chris.  Fisher,  J.  J.  Sturgill,  A.  M.  Crow, 
G.  N.  Brown,  Thomas  R.  Brown,  E.  Mays,  Dr.  J.  D.  Kincaid,  Chas.  Hastings, 
John  E.  Burchett,  Rev.  J.  H.Jackson,  G.  R.  McGuire,  Wayne  Damron,  L. 
Damron  &  Bro.,  L.  F.  Damron,  J.  G.  Patton  &  Co.,  Joseph  Patton,  S.  W.  Pat- 
ton, G.  J.  Dickseid,  S.  W.  Ratliff,  S.  G.  Kinner,  Dr.  Wm.  Ely,  Elba  Ulen,  M. 
A.  Bell,  Samuel  Galligher,  W.  W.  Montague,  Harding  Pennington,  J.  M. 
Davidson's  estate,  G.  S.  McNeil,  Hugh  B.  Wellman,  Craft  &  McClure,  R.  B. 
Riggs,  Tone  Wellman,  John  H.  Eba,  T.  M.  Cecil,  Mrs.  Kessiah  Burns,  C.  C. 
Prichard,  Ohio  River  Transportation  Company,  R.  R.  Barton,  A.  H.  Goble, 
G.  F.  Gallup,  Frank  Stafford,  Flem.  Justice,  Green  Short,  W.  H.  Jackson, 
John  Smith,  L'.  P.  Garrett,  Mrs.  A.  L.  Lykins,  Charles  Ely,  Dan.  Workman, 
George  Layne,  Dan.  Davenport,  William  Cantrill,  Alex.  Short,  Frank  Mott, 
Mrs.  Smiley,  Steve  Short.  W.  H.  Henley,  John  M.  Burns,  Andy  Moore,  John 
Davis,  Dave  Fields,  Nancy  Davis,  Dave  Stanley,  John  B.  Fields,  Joe  Fields, 
S.  Hite,  Noah  Foster,  E.  W.  Baker,  J.  W.  Dillon,  A.  Borders,  A.  P.  Borders, 
Catlettsburg  Pottery  Company,  Stein  &  Son,  John  Meek,  J.  M.  Burns  &  Son, 
Joe  Newman,  Andy  Scott,  H.  L.  Boggs,  A.  E.  York,  Sol.  Williamson,  G.  M. 
Whitten.  T.  H.  Baldridsre.  R.  H.  Kilgore.  Ellen  Tones,  T.  L.  Ford,  Mrs.  Kim- 


HISTORY    OF    THE    GkEAT    FLOOD    OF    1884.  61 

ball.  Mrs.  A.  F.  Mnrre.  Henry  Williams.  A.  J.  Booker,  Scott  G  nil  key,  Dave 
Davis.  W.  L.  K  bbie,  Win.  Shoemaker,  T.  Mims,  Anelia  Fuller,  W.  J.  Mc- 
Nealey,  Cas.  Wilmore,  Mrs.  Jane  Bart  ram,  Grace  Guilkey,  Mrs.  A.  Botts.  J. 
F.  Jones,  J.  M.  McGuire,  Mrs.  J.  M.  Elliott,  Mrs.  Lizzie  Price,  Oliver  Hainp- 
ion,  George  Cole,  P.  P.  Sbauer,  Dick  Bartram,  C.  W.  Sheritt,  T.  Craft  Dan. 
Davis,  C.  Cecil,  Sr.,  Ford  &  Cecil,  Thomas  L.  Mars,  W.  H.  C.  White,  George 
Killen,  R.  B.  McCail.  McCall  &  Cecil,  A.  H.  Clawson,  Catlettsburg  National 
Bank,  M.  E.  Church,  M.  E.  Church,  South;  C.  Cecil,  Jr.,  Aaron  Owens,  A. 
H.  Hogan,  William  Smiley,  David  Kinner,  L.  P.  Davenport,  Coon  Waits,  Mrs. 
H.  S.  Johnson,  W.  S.  Clark,  Cal.  Wellman,  A.  C.  Hailey,  C.  H.  Hampton. 
Masonic  Lodge,  M.  N.  Hambleton.  J.  W.  Miles,  Kirk  Culver,  J.  N.  Hamilton, 
John  Faulkner,  Aaron  Stead,  D.  D.  Eastham,  Mrs.  Matilda  Rice,  Mrs.  S.  V. 
Firor,  Mrs.  Mary  Burk,  J.  C.  Merrill,  N.  P.  Andrews  &  Son,  James  Sparks, 
Mrs.  Elizabeth  Campbell,  David  Chadwick,  Mrs.  Klauder,  William  Troy,  Al. 
Cameron,  J.  H.  Porter,  John  McSurley,  Squire  Ross,  Mrs.  Amanda  Rice,  Jas. 
R.  Ford,  K.  F.  Prichard,  Feuce  Davidson,  T.  D.  Marcum,  M.  F.  Hampton, 
Mrs.  Jake  Meek,  D.  B.  Vaughan,  Contracting  and  Building  Co. 

It  is  estimated  that  it  will  take  $10,000  to  rebuild  the  fences, 
replace  the  houses,  and  clean  up  the  streets  and  alleys,  and 
repair  the  pavements.  Mrs.  Eads,  an  aged  lady,  died  in  the 
court-house  on  the  same  day  that  there  was  a  birth  in  the 
court-house.  Two  daughters  of  Rev.  Mr.  Fannin  died 
during  the  high  water.  There  was  nothing  but  gloom  and 
woe  to  the  entire  population  for  many  days,  but  the  people 
are  full  of  perseverance  and  enterprise,  and  are  doing  the 
best  they  can  under  the  circumstances  to  make  glad  the  waste 
places  and  revivify  business. 

Ashland,  the  next  town  of  importance  below  Catlettsburg, 
fared  much  better  than  did  the  latter.  J.  M.  Huff,  Esq.,  of 
the  Ashland  Re-publican,  issued  from  his  office  a  diagram  of 
the  streets  and  avenues  of  Ashland,  showing  the  high  water 
marks  of  1883  and  1884.  The  flooded  district  included  Front 
Street,  Greenup  Avenue,  and  extended  about  three-fourths  of 
the  way  from  Greenup  Avenue  to  Winchester  Avenue,  being 
forty-eight  inches  deep  in  the  middle  of  Front  Street,  forty- 
four  inches  on  Greenup  Avenue,  and  thirty-three  inches  on 
the  alley  between  Greenup  and  Winchester  Avenues.  This 
was  about  the  average.  Greenup  Avenue  is  immediately 
back  of  Front  Street,  and  Winchester  Avenue  immediately 
back  of  Greenup,  and  is  eight  feet  higher  than  Front  Street,  so 
that  the  two  front  streets  only  were  flooded  for  the  length  of 
the  town,  and  they  only  in  the  first  stories.  It,  however, 
compelled  about  seventy-five  business  firms  to  move  into  tlieir 
second  stories,  and  also  thirty-six  families.  About  200  other 


62  HISTORY    OF   THE    GREAT   FLOOD    OF    1884. 

houses  were  overflowed  and  compelled  to  move,  so  that  there 
were  very  lively  times  in  the  place.  There  was  considerable 
damage,  but  nothing  that  will  affect  the  business  interests  of 
the  town,  though  it  was  seriously  threatened.  Ashland 
mainly  provided  for  her  own  destitute,  and  even  sent  much 
aid  to  Catlettsburg  and  Greenup,  which  was  very  commend- 
able in  her  citizens.  According  to  the  water  marks  of  Ash- 
land, the  water  was  four  inches  higher  in  '32  than  in  '47,  '47 
was  four  inches  higher  than  '83,  and  '84  five  feet  four  and 
one-half  inches  higher  than  '32.  The  following  were  those 
compelled  to  move  by  the  flood  : 

I.  W.  Norton,  Mrs.  Hambleton,  H.  Tinsley, Oliver,  Dave  Lloyd,  Ma- 
chine Shop,  Spoke  Factory,  Nath.  Balbridge,  Saw  Mill,  Planing  Mill,  Union 
Depot,  Coal  Tipple,  G.  Reynolds,  Coal  Tipple,  Ashland  Fee,  O.  N.  Johnson, 
R.  H.  Chattaroi,  R.  Baumgarten,  G.  Hambleton,  Thomas  Bird,  Walter  Holden, 
R.  Williams,  John  Durgen,  Nath.  Booth,  E.  Goulette,  Lot  Ridgeway,  Sidney 
Hart,  Geo.  Morrison,  Mrs.  Brain,  A.  H.  Burnett,  G.  McNaughton,  John  Spicer, 

Nick  Helt,   Mrs.  C.  J.  Wilson,  John   Dever,  Geo.  Carp,   Richard   Carey, 

Moriarity,  A.  Starling,  Jos.  Hunt,  John  Hopkins,  Mrs.  Bell,  Mrs.  Gibbons, 
John  Reed,  A.  Ferguson,  John  Biggs,  Chas.  Morris,  Dr.  Wilson,  John  Friend, 

Wm.  Hart,   Walter  Burk,  Geo.  Compton,  Maxen,   S.  Yungkau,  Frank 

Judd,  Martin  Sourwin,  Thos.  Bullington,  Benj.  Dixon,  T.  J.  Langshore,  Mrs. 

Broddess,  John  Fry, Manes,  J.  Weinturtner,  Dennis  Sullivan,  Jas.  Davis, 

John  Bell,  Wm.  Hulett,  Wm.  Howell,  Newton  Jones,  Grift"  Davis,  C.  C.  Chinn. 
Jns.  McDonald.  George  Sands,  John  Campbell,  John  Stump,  Wm.  Parven. 
I  Icnry  Miller,  Charles  Long,  Kit  Poage,  Miss  Merriman,  Thomas  Connor,  Ed. 
Comer.  W.  Harrison,  Pat  Leehy,  Robert  Ross,  Mrs.  Dwyer,  Thomas  Hardy, 
N.  R.  Bulger.  J.  W.  Shaw,  Wm.  Diederich,  Oliver  Payne,  Thos.  Murphy,  Lew 
Beach,  John  Kobbs,  Raison  Stamper,  Aleck  Jamison,  Thomas  Spicer,  Mrs. 

Halley,  J.   Messersmith,  C.  Gerlinger,   Moore,   Peter  Langshore,  

Paden,  Jacob  Emmons,  Postoffice,  A.  &  H.  Lampton,  Charles  Raison,  Mrs. 
O'Brien,  Al  Mellor,  Broadway  Hotel,  C.  P.  Gaige,  John  Brubaker,  Meinhart  & 
Co.,  C.  M.  Wilson,  I.  N.  Pollock,  W.  L.  Geiger,  Hager  &  Russell,  John 
Zeigler,  John  Schmidt,  R.  Baumgarten,  John  Calder,  James  Dent,  Veyssie  & 
Jones,  Jacob  Seal,  Tom  Newman,  Jehu  Hold,  Ben  W.  Singer.  Mrs.  Keener,  J. 
C.  Herman,  E.  M.  Branstrup,  J.  G.  Fisher,  W.  A.  Lawson,  G.  Nicholson,  W. 
H.  H.  Eba,  Thos.  Howard,  John  Leisure,  Joe  Rankins,  John  Meyers,  Daniel 
McGarvey,  John  Connors,  Joe  Lordier,  Jas.  Bivens,  A.  M.  Thompson,  J.  Sauve- 
geot,  Lon  Callihan,  Hotel  Aldine,  Jacob  Geyer,  Peter  Stiles,  Mrs.  Daniels,  A. 
S.  Hunt,  Thomas  Russell,  Peter  Moats,  Alex.  Wilson,  Charles  Gaver,  A.  C.  & 
I.  Office,  Hiram  Miller,  Capt.  Mayo,  John  Horr,  Frank  Powers,  W.  W.  Hack- 
worth,  Thomas  Houghton,  P.  Barber,  Poage's  Mill,  John  Jackson.  John  Jack- 
man,  Arch.  Rodgers,  Wm.  McMullan,  Mrs.  Lyons,  John  James,  John  Henry, 

Harry  Thomas,  Henry  Schroder, Lambert,  H.  Culbertson,  G.  Donaldson, 

Thos.  Cassidy,  M.  Stiefvater,  Andy  Kelly,  Wm.  Cook,  Pat  Haney,  Joe  Ofield, 


HISTORY    OF   THE    GREAT   FLOOD    OF    1884.  63 

Geo.  McKnight,  Mot  McKnight,  Thos.  Lyons,  B.  Broomfield,  J.  Hellwig,  Win. 
Kouns,  Mrs.  DeRossett,  S.  Casebolt,  John  Petre,  Al.  Skiles,  Milt  Hern,  Alfred 
Kizee,  Margaret  Johnson,  Wm.  Cummings,  Frank  Long,  Geo.  Shomers, 
Robert  Fugett,  Henry  Riley,  Jas.  Runion,  A.  J.  Crawford,  E.  C.  Roll,  Charles- 
Lynch,  Mrs.  Maynes,  Lon  Hood,  Gus  Rodgers,  John  Henthorn,  Miss  Smith. 
John  Griesbeck,  Mrs.  Kane,  Thomas  Kane,  George  Bell,  George  Jones,  John 
Layman,  L.  Fearing,  Sr.,  J.  K.  Johnson,  Dan  Kelly,  Mrs.  White,  Oliver  Birch 
Morris  Conner,  Millard  Clark,  Obe  Galligher,  Rena  Downie,  Jacob  Bloom. 
August  Schemer,  Samuel  Wise,  Lewis  Snider,  Mrs.  Kilgore,  H.  H.  Braden,  T. 
Northwood,  W.  H.  Bagley,  Andy  Falls,  Arnold  Wyatt,  Peter  Clay,  Fred 
Merriman,  P.  L.  Howell,  Frank  Ketterer,  James  Kingery,  Mrs.  Lynn,  W.  H. 
Kouns,  John  McCleary,  S.  Davenport,  Pat  Suddith,  Robert  Page,  Reuben 
Bolt,  Robert  Jeffers,  Geo.  Bornheim,  J.  C.  Maisch,  H.  A.  Nolte,  C.  F.  Bartell 
John  Wittig,  Geiger  &  Powell,  George  Geyer,  J.  C.  Miller,  W.  C.  Ireland 
George  Porter,  Geo.  Wheatley,  F.  H,  Bruning,  P.  T.  Nagle,  Charles  Kouns. 
N.  F.  Faulkner,  Jandes  Bros.,  Harris  &  Coburn,  Andrew  Jackson,  George 
Prater,  Reuben  Downey,  Peter  Miller.  Wm.  Jackman,  Pat  Moriarity,  Repub- 
lican Office,  Henderson  &  Lane,  Hugh  Russell,  Daniel  Turner, Jackson 

Mason,  Peter  Crosby,  Faulkner  Bros.,  J.  R.  McBreyer,  Mrs.  Frazier,  Ber. 

Ridgeway,  Samuel  Frazier,  E.  B.  Waggoner,  James  Smith,  Lewis  Fearing,  Jr. 
Chris  Lightner,  Charles  Fedder,  Matthew  West,  John  Layne,  Mrs.  Pyles. 
David  Martin,  Mrs.  Ray,  Henry  Rundy,  Jack  Bailey,  Z.  T.  Miller,  Henry 
Fisher,  Fred  Myers,  Coon  Myers,  G.  W.  Bryson,  G.  Weinfurtner,  George 
Riddle,  Charles  Cline,  Coon  Hyman. 

They  were  all  put  to  nearly  the  same  inconvenience  as  the 
people  in  much  worse  flooded  towns,  but  were  spared  the 
sight  of  seeing  all  their  property  swept  away  as  by  a  prairie 
fire,  as  was  the  case  at  many  places,  and  even  the  flooded 
ones  could  see  dry  land  on  six  streets  the  length  of  the  town, 
while  at  many  towns  there  was  nothing  but  miles  of  water  in 
every  direction,  and  the  entire  population  on  the  hills  or  in 
the  uppermost  stories,  or  on  the  very  roofs  of  their  houses. 

We  next  come  to 

IRONTON,    OHIO. 

Ironton  has  a  population  of  about  10,000,  and  is  a  flourish- 
ing business  place,  largely  engaged  in  making  iron  and 
manufacturing.  The  flood  was  particularly  severe  upon  her. 
She  had  had  her  hands  full  for  many  weeks  taking  care  ol 
the  destitute  within  her  borders,  who  had  been  idle  for  want 
of  employment,  as,  indeed,  was  the  case  in  all  the  manufac- 
turing towns  and  cities  along  the  river,  and  the  flood  was  like 
a  second  calamity.  The  people,  however,  of  the  well-to-do 
sort  are  very  public  spirited,  have  an  exalted  opinion  of  their 


64  HISTORY    OF   THE    GREAT    FLOOD    OF    1884. 

town  and  their  capacity  to  cope  with  the  vicissitudes  of  this 
life,  let  them  come  in  whatever  shape  they  may,  and  though 
made  to  contribute  about  $200,000  to  the  rapacious  Ohio 
River  in  the  way  of  loss  and  damage,  she  has  done  it  with  as 
much  grace  as  could  be  expected,  and  has  gone  to  work  with 
a  hopeful  energy  to  repair  the  loss.  The  water  reached  its 
greatest  height  here,  the  Ironton  Busy  Bee  says,  on  Tuesday, 

FEBRUARY  12, 

at  10  A.  M.,  measuring  sixty-six  feet  one  inch,  against  sixty 
feet  last  year.  The  Ironton  Register  of  February  14  said  : 

"The  events  of  the  past  week  have  been  simply  heartrending.  Pen  cannot 
describe  the  sorrowful  scenes  which  this  city  has  witnessed.  We  thought  we 
had,  a  year  ago,  an  experience  so  terrible  that,  in  the  nature  of  things,  came 
but  a  time  or  two  in  a  century,  but  now  the  calamity  returns  in  proportions 
that  are  perfectly  appalling.  As  we  write,  Monday  morning,  the  waters  cover 
more  than  half  the  town  of  Ironton.  All  West  Ironton  is  deep  in  the  flood. 
The  entire  business  portion  of  the  city  has  been  invaded  by  the  deluge,  and  in 
every  store  the  waters  are  from  a  foot  to  eight  feet  deep.  From  Fourth  Street 
to  the  river,  the  entire  length  of  the  town  is  a  sheet  of  yellow  water,  and  at 
the  lower  end  of  town  the  flood  sweeps  from  the  river  to  the  hills.  Not  only 
the  lowlands  back  of  town  are  submerged,  but  the  railroad  track  is  covered  as 
far  along  its  way  as  Dupuy's  tannery,  while  the  waters  from  the  river  have 
crept  along  Railroad  Street  clear  to  Fifth. 

"On  Hecla  Street  the  flood  reached  to  Wesley  Chapel;  on  Buckhorn,  to  Dr. 
Moxley's;  on  Railroad,  to  Fifth;  on  Centre,  to  the  Centre  House;  on  Olive, 
the  water  line  runs  beyond  Dr.  Livesay's  house;  on  Vernon,  to  Mrs.  Raine's 
house;  on  Adams,  to  the  middle  of  Culbertson's  lot.  Fourth  Street  is  entirely 
covered,  and  skiffs  ply  up  and  down  with  perfect  freedom." 

On  Thursday  the  backwaters  from  Rachel  began  to  appear  on  the  cross 
streets,  and  to  submerge  the  lower  end  of  West  Ironton.  On  Friday,  the  tide 
backed  up  over  the  culverts  and  invaded  some  of  the  stores.  A  tontinuous 
sheet  of  water  held  West  Ironton  in  its  cold  grasp.  The  inhabitants  of  the 
one-story  houses  had  long  ago  fled,  and  all  others  had  taken  themselves  to  the 
second  stories.  The  court-house,  engine  houses,  and  all  vacant  rooms  were 
filled  with  the  unfortunates  that  had  fled  from  desolated  homes.  By  Friday 
night,  Rachel  reached  the  farther  gutters  of  Third  Street,  and  began  creeping  on 
Hay  ward's  floor.  All  the  store  rooms  along  Centre  from  Third  to  Fourth  had  been 
abandoned.  Mrs.  Gunn's  millinery  store.  Slater's  drug  store,  Jake  Clark's,  H. 
Pancake's,  J.  T.  McNight,  Miss  H.  Bowen,  A.  Wieler,  were  all  caught  by  the 
advancing  wave.  Most  of  the  goods  were  carried  to  second  stories  or  raised 
on  counters  or  shelves.  At  8  o'clock,  Friday  night,  the  tide  was  within  a  foot 
of  the  mark  of  1883.  On  Saturday,  it  began  to  sweep  over  Second  street.  It 
got  on  the  pavements  in  front  of  Davey's  and  Steece's  buildings,  and  came  out. 
beyond  Second,  on  Lawrence. 


HISTORY    OF    THE    GREAT    FLOOD    OF    1884.  65 

Saturday  was  a  day  of  great  alarm.  The  flood  had  gone  beyond  the  1883 
mark  and  still  advancing.  The  rain  added  to  the  sorrowful  scene.  The  water 
swept  up  Second  Street  as  far  as  Lambert's  foundry,  and  on  the  cross  streets 
below  town  the  waters  of  Rachel  and  the  river  were  meeting.  In  the  after- 
noon, the  waves  lapped  the  door  sill  of  the  Sheridan  House,  and  on  Lawrence 
a  swift  current  started  through  the  street.  The  water  began  creeping  into 
Keer's  and  Murdock's  stores  in  Union  Block.  The  flood  had  reached  the  door 
sills  of  nearly  all  the  stores  on  the  west  side  of  Second  Street.  The  only  cross 
street  passable  was  Railroad  street,  and  the  waters  had  reached  the  track  in  the 
afternoon.  That  little  narrow  strip  was  jammed  with  people  all  day.  The 
Second  Street  pavements  were  crowded  with  people.  The  military  was  out, 
ostensibly  for  the  protection  of  property,  and  yet  no  vandalism  seemed  immi- 
nent. Under  the  supervision  of  a  large  number  of  ladies,  a  soup  house  had 
been  started  at  the  Davey  building,  and  many  of  the  hungry  went  there  and 
got  a  nice  dish  of  soup,  a  piece  of  bread  and  cup  of  coffee.  But  by  night  the 
water  had  about  closed  all  access  in  front,  and  the  only  way  of  getting  it  was 
by  raised  planks.  By  dark,  only  the  T  rail  of  the  railroad  across  Rachel  was 
visible,  and  over  that  narrow  passage  the  crowd  slowly  wormed  its  way.  The 
boats  were  plying  along  Third  Street  everywhere.  The  stores  of  Hay  ward, 
Bickmore,  Lewis,  Henry,  Peters  &  Ehriich  had  water  from  one  to  two  feet  on 
the  floors.  Approach  to  the  Post-office  was  cut  off,  and  by  dark  the  water 
was  half  a  foot  deep  there.  Otten  &  Norton's  drug  store  showed  a  foot  of 
water  on  the  floor,  and  Alderman's,  opposite,  was  equally  unfortunate. 

And  still  the  waters  kept  on  advancing  at  the  rate  of  an  inch  an  hour,  and 
Saturday  night  the  people  went  to  bed  discouraged  and  dismayed.  By 


the  scene  was  desolate  indeed.  All  the  previous  night  the  flood  kept  gaining, 
and  sent  the  waters  up  at  least  a  foot  This  covered  the  floor  of  every  busi- 
ness house  in  town  except  the  First  National  Bank.  We  took  a  skiff  and 
rowed  through  town — down  Adams  to  Second,  down  Second  to  Railroad,  out 
Railroad  to  Third,  down  Third  to  Buckhorn,  out  Buckhorn  to  Fourth,  down 
Fourth  to  Hecla,  and  out  Hecla  nearly  to  Fifth,  then  back,  and  up  Fourth  to 
Railroad,  in  Railroad  to  Third,  up  Third  to  Centre,  out  Centre  to  Fourth,  up 
Fourth  to  Adams.  We  describe  this  route  simply  to  give  to  the  oldest  inhab- 
itant of  the  future  a  little  support  if  he  finds  any  one  to  doubt  his  word.  And 
this  was  Sundav  morning,  with  the  waters  still  coming  up. 

The  people  on  the  west  side  of  Fourth  had  abandoned  their  homes  or  were 
•till  hanging  on  the  second  stories,  hoping  and  praying  that  the  waters  would 
•oon  recede.  Seme  were  hoping,  from  the  slender  basis  of  the  last  inch,  that 
the  waters  would  not  come  up  to  rout  them.  Others  who  had  piled  their 
goods  high  in  the  first  story  were  watching  with  hopeless  eyes  the  encroaching 
waters,  or  were  struggling  in  the  yellow  flood  to  get  their  goods  h'gher  up. 
The  stores  along  Centre  were  an  appalling  sight;  counters  were  upturned  or 
floating,  and  goods  drifted  about  on  the  surface.  One  could  see  everywhere, 
how  weak  were  all  human  calculations  compared  to  the  aw  fulness  of  the  flood- 


66  IIIJSTOKY  OK  Tin-    <;KKAT  KI.OOD  OK  1884. 

Sunday  afternoon,  the  waters  rose  to  the  show  windows  on  Second  Street. 
Manv  of  the  merchants  had  been  contented  to  place  their  goods  on  the  count- 
ers and  now  thev  were  at  work  putting  them  up  higher.  Faith  in  the  flood 
ever  stopping  began  to  be  seriously  fractured.  The  waters  got  into  the  Ironton 
House  and  drove  the  boarders  to  the  second  story.  The  Second  National 
Bank  was  two  feet  deep  in  water,  Sunday  afternoon.  A  swift  current  reached 
from  the  river  out  Railroad.  Front  Street  was  hard  to  row  up.  Sunday 
night,  at  seven  o'clock,  we  got  in  a  skiff  in  front  of  R.  Mather's  residence  and 
rode  through  the  streets;  passing  around  in  front  of  the  Sheridan  and  Ironton 
Mouses,  and  then  up  Second  and  Third  to  the  rear  of  L.  T.  Dean's,  where  we 
landed  in  the  alley.  The  water  was  not  then  in  Mr.  Dean's  house,  but  was 
within  a  few  inches  of  it. 

It  was  raining  at  nine  o'clock  Sunday  night,  and  the  water  still  making  its 
usual  progress.  In  fact,  it  seemed  to  be  advancing  more  rapidly  after  dark. 
Reports  came  that  Sandy  was  running  out  heavily.  Anyhow,  the  waters  kept 
coming  up  all  Sunday  night,  and  on 


the  tide  had  gained  a  foot,  and  was  still  going  up  slowly.  The  bad  weather 
kept  up.  Still  hard  at  it  worked  the  merchants  and  housekeepers  in  the  inun- 
dated districts.  The  channel  on  Second  Street  was  five  feet  deep  in  many 
places.  A  big  store  boat  had  been  brought  around  and  was  moved  between 
Enterprise  and  Steece's  blocks,  helping  remove  some  of  the  store  goods. 

All  day  Monday  boat  building  went  on.  At  every  cross  street  where  the 
waters  ebbed,  was  a  miniature  boat  yard.  Every  little  while  the  word  went 
forth  that  the  waters  were  at  a  stand  still  or  raising  slowly,  but  the  counter  re- 
ports were  as  numerous  and  decided.  The  merchants  began  to  distrust  high 
shelves  and  upper  stories  even,  and  many  goods  were  sent  ashore,  but  all  more 
or  less  damaged. 

The  crossing  of  Railroad  and  Fifth  was  a  favorite  landing  place.  Crowds 
of  people  gathered  there  and  at  other  crossings  where  the  boats  were  con- 
stantly landing  with  goods  or  refugees  from  the  flood.  Some  of  the  awning 
roofs  on  Centre  Street  were  under  water  on  Monday.  In  the  afternoon,  the 
waters  strike  the  sill  of  the  front  door  of  the  First  National  Bank.  The  tip« 
of  the  iron  fence  in  front  stick  out  about  four  inches  above  the  water.  As  we 
write,  we  observe  a  skiff  has  stuck  on  the  post  of  the  hitching  rail  in  front  of 
the  bank,  and  is  struggling  to  get  off.  The  waters  are  within  a  couple  of  inches 
of  the  lower  window  sills  in  the  freight  office  of  the  Iron  Railroad. 

Sunday  night,  Gooch  &  McQuigg  were  putting  their  goods  on  the  high 
shelves,  but  to-day  (  Monday )  they  are  boating  many  of  them  ashore.  Kauf- 
man is  taking  some  of  his  goods  in  the  second  story  of  Ward's  building. 
Steece,  both  Neekamps,  Weil,  Mtttendorf.  Aaron  Winters,  Butterfield,  David- 
son and  Murdock  are  working  hard,  boosting  their  goods  into  second  stories, 
and  still,  a*  one  goes  bv  the  business  houses,  he  can  see  within  vast  quantities 
of  property  going  to  ruin.  The  water  works  gave  up  the  ghost  Saturday 
night,  and  this  added  to  the  calamity  of  the  situation,  for  the  idea  of  drinking 


HISTORY    OF   THE    GREAT    FLOOD    OF    1884.  67 

the  water  that  swept  over  Rachel  and  through  the  gutters  of  Ironton  was  too 
repulsive  to  even  think  of. 

Monday  afternoon,  we  took  a  voyage  down  Second  Street  to  the  Belfont 
mill.  Thos.  Griffith's  brick  building  on  Second  Street,  below  Buckhorn,  caved 
in  under  the  force  of  the  water.  The  lower  wall  is  left  standing,  but  the  entire 
roof,  floors  and  middle  walls  tumbled  right  in.  The  wreck  is  a  desolate  one. 
No  one  was  hurt,  for  at  the  time  all  had  fled  from  the  house. 

At  Belfont,  hundreds  of  cords  of  keg  timber  were  floating  about.  The 
water  is  five  feet  deep  in  all  the  mills.  This  catches  immense  quantities  of 
iron  and  nails.  The  Bellbnt  Company  had  transferred  their  nails  from  the 
warehouse  to  the  platforms  in  the  factory,  on  which  the  machines  rest,  but  the 
waters  have  got  there,  and  ruined  a  great  many  nails.  Lawrence  and  Iron 
-&  Steel  Companies  are  similarly  situated. 

The  river  is  nearly  to  the  tops  of  the  doors  at  the  gas-works  and  hoe  fac- 
tory. It  covers  the  new  Storms  Creek  bridge,  except  the  tops  of  the  railing. 
The  havoc  in  West  Ironton  is  indescribable.  As  we  rode  through,  strong  cur- 
rents from  the  river  were  rushing  out  the  streets.  Hugh  Mahafty's  house,  with 
all  there  was  in  it,  had  floated  off.  Many  people  were  still  holding  the  fort  in  the 
second  stories  of  their  houses,  but  they  seemed  terribly  anxious  about  the  rising 
water,  for  up  it  was  still  goingv  The  top  of  a  gas-post  was  here  and  there  visible. 

From  West  Ironton  we  went  straight  across  to  Fifth  Street,  or  the  "Green," 
and  then  back  to  Fourth,  down  which  the  current  was  very  swift.  The  water 
on  Ilecla  was  just  meeting  the  water  on  Fifth,  and  on  Buckhorn  it  had  caught 
Dr.  Moxley's  residence,  and  was  creeping  to  Fifth  Street  there.  The  market 
space  was  entirely  covered,  and  on  Railroad,  the  waters  extended  beyond  Fifth, 
«o  that  Fifth  Street  was  not  passable.  Through  the  gutters  on  the  side  of  the 
Railroad,  the  waters  from  the  river  and  from  the  backwater  of  Storms  Creek 
mingled.  Back  of  town,  the  water  had  enveloped  everything,  and  was  within 
five  or  six  feet  o  the  Children's  Home.  The  road  to  the  Cory  tunnel  was, 
however,  high  and  drv. 

The  waters  sweep  up  Fourth  Street  toward  the  Mission  Church,  and  all  in 
between  that  and  the  river  is  covered  by  water.  The  flood  nearly  reaches  the  ceil- 
ing of  Bester's  store.  I.  A.  Kelly  flees  from  his  residence,  near  the  Kelly  Nail 
Mill,  which  the  waters  have  begun  to  invade.  Belfont  furnace  is  in  the  waves 
but  not  damaged.  Most  of  East  Ironton  has  followed  the  example  of  their 
unfortunate  neighbors  in  the  west  end,  and  fled  to  the  heights  back  of  Fourth 
Street.  The  school  houses  have  been  opened  to  the  sufferers,  and  dim  lights 
flicker  from  those  buildings,  the  engine  houses  and  other  public  places,  as  the 
reporter  walks  about  at  midnight.  The  town  is  very  quiet  at  night.  The 
silence  is  wierd  and  solemn.  An  occasional  militiaman  is  met,  quietlj 
walking  his  beat.  Here  and  there  a  boat  slowly  creeps  across  the  waters. 
At  the  shore,  on  any  of  the  cross  streets,  two  or  three  persons  linger  and 
quietly  talk  of  the  prospect.  We  ask  if  the  river  is  still  coming  up,  and 
the  response  is  invariably  "yes."  The  moon  shines  dull  in  the  mi-ts  ;  and  in 
the  quiet  the  people  are  trying  to  catch  a  few  hours  of  rest  from  the  terrible 
anxieties  and  labors  of  the  day. 


68  HISTORY    OF    THE    GREAT    FLOOD    OF   1884. 

TUESDAY. 

It  raised  six  inches  last  night,  and  is  still  advancing  slowly.  The  waters 
have  met  at  Fifth  and  Duckhorn.  opposite  II.  Campbell's.  Thev  have  driven 
D.  Nixon  from  his  house  on  Lawrence,  and  have  got  beyond  the  Centre  Street 
steps  of  the  Court  House  Square.  Looking  down  on  Centre,  we  see  the  tide 
has  reached  the  top  of  the  doors  in  Slater's  drug  store,  and  is  half  way  up  the 
front  door  of  Dr.  Morris'  residence.  The  portion  of  the  town  which  is  now 
out  of  the  water  is  from  a  line  running  between  Fourth  and  Fifth,  beginning 
about  Washington  Street,  and  ihence  straight  across  to  the  intersection  of  Fifth 
and  Buckhorn,  down  Fifth  to  Etna,  out  Etna  to  Eighth,  and  then  around 
on  the  high  banks  of  Storms  toward  Dupuy's  tannery,  and  along  to  the  east 
of  Eighth  Street,  up  into  the  Kelly  addition;  and  still  as  we  write  this  territory 
is  being  encroached  upon.  The  sun  is  shining  to-day,  and  the  watery  avenues 
of  Ironton  are  lively  with  flying  craft.  The  moving  is  about  all  done,  except  in 
stray  cases.  Many  people  are  voyaging  around  to  see  the  universal  havoc.  Not- 
withstanding the  ruin  everywhere,  those  who  have  been  visited  severely  are 
ready  to  look  upon  the  ways  of  Providence  with  serene  contemplation,  while 
many  others  are  throwing  jokes  above  their  own  dark  misfortunes.  The  shore 
line  above  town  starts  between  the  Railroad  Round  House  and  Etna  Furnace; 
thence  north-east,  through  Willard's  orchard,  below  Thos.  Kemp's,  and  below 
Bud  McDaniels;  thence  between  the  Holt  residence  and  II.  Dettmar,  and  over 
toward  Mrs.  Miller's  green  house,  but  missing  that.  All  below  this  line  is  in  the 
water.  Kelly's  mill  is  surrounded  and  the  water  is  about  an  inch  within  the 
packing  floor.  The  platform  where  the  nail  machines  are  located  is  crowded 
with  refugees  from  the  flood.  The  water  is  not  in  the  mill,  but  fills  the  fly 
wheel  pit.  The  Belfont  lime  piles  are  utilized  by  the  skifFmakers.  The  water 
is  away  up  in  W.  D.  Kelly's  front  yard. 

It  is  impossible  to  give  many  names.  It  would  take  columns  to  describe  the  in- 
dividual misfortunes.  All  the  houses  in  the  district  which  we  have 
described  are  more  or  less  in  the  water.  We  should  say  that  two- 
thirds  of  the  houses  in  town  have  from  one  to  ten  feet  on  the  floor.  The 
personal  losses  will  be  inestimable.  Many  abandoned  their  houses  last  Satur- 
day with  the  idea  that  the  flood  could  not  raise  much  more,  but  found  next 
morning  their  goods  floating  through  the  houses.  There  are  hundreds  of  in- 
stances of  this  kind.  But  the  serious  damage,  after  all,  will  be  to  the  merchants' 
stocks  and  the  houses  themselves.  The  havoc  to  the  wall  paper  and  plaster  is 
tremendous.  Fences  have  popped  up  all  over  town.  The  course  of  Rachel 
Creek  is  a  tumbled  up  mass  of  stables  and  out-buildings.  Gutter  crossings  have 
floated  everywhere. 

To-day  (Tuesday)  the  sun  is  out.  and  the  air  is  warm  and  genial.  There  is 
noi«e  on  the  wafers.  We  should  reckon  a  thousand  boats  are  plying  the  streets 
of  Ironton.  Collisions  are  numerous,  and  loud  laughter  and  ofl -repeated 
jokes  burden  the  air.  Ladies  are  out  in  jo-boats  and  skiffs  to  see  the  waste  of 
waters,  and  their  cruel  desolation.  There  is  often  a  shade  of  merriment  to  all 
things  sad. 

We  afccended  the  Presbyterian  spire  last  Sunday,  to  view  the  flood.      From 


HISTORY    OF    THE    GREAT    FLOOD    OF    1884.  69 

'that  point,  it  could  best  be  seen  in  Ironton  and  the  region  between  Sarah  fur- 
nace and  the  Rock,  though  the  hill  tops,  perhaps,  aflorded  a  better  view  for  a 
•wider  range.  It  was  a  dreadful  scene.  Two-thirds  of  the  expanse  before  us 
seemed  under  water — West  Ironton,  the  Storms  Creek  Valley,  the  region  of 
the  old  fair  grounds,  the  lowlands  back  of  town  on  either  side  of  the  I.  R.  R. 
track  and  up  the  Tenth  Street  valley  as  far  as  the  Kelly  Building  Association 
lots,  beside  the  immense  territory  washed  by  the  River  itself  from  between 
Fourth  and  Filth  Streets,  to  the  Kentucky  shore.  Russell  was  a  peninsula, 
tapering  from  a  point  opposite  the  saw-mills  to  the  bend  above  the  Rock.  At  our 
feet  crowds  of  people  walked  the  streets  and  gazed  with  wonderment  at  the 
edge  of  the  flood.  Boats  and  rafts  floated  everywhere.  People  in  the  sub- 
merged districts  looked  out  from  their  porch  roofs  and  balconies  with  a  weary 
attitude  and  a  disconsolate  look,  which  the  imagination  could  see.  Teams 
struggled  to  navigate  Railroad  Street,  and  an  occasional  horse  and  buggv  went 
along  Second  and  Third  with  the  driver's  feet  elevated  to  keep  out  of  the  wet. 
These  were  the  higher  portions  of  ground,  and  along  the  cross  streets  the  water 
marked  its  depth  high  up  on  the  first  stories,  and  touched  the  eaves  of  very 
many  houses  on  still  lower  lands. 

The  Ironton  Bee  of  the  I2th  said: 

We  took  soundings  at  quite  a  number  of  points  in  this  city,  and  found  the 
following  depths  of  water:  Two  squares  below  the  bridge,  on  Second  Street, 
W.  I.,  ten  feet;  on  the  new  Storms  Creek  bridge,  supposed  to  be  above  high 
water  mark,  there  was  six  feet  four  inches;  on  the  corner  of  Second  and  Ve- 
suvius, the  approach  to  the  bridge,  ten  feet;  on  the  drag-out  bed  of  Bel  font 
Mills,  nine  feet;  opposite  door  of  Belfont  office,  six  feet  six  inches;  corner 
Hecla  and  Second  Streets,  six  feet  three  inches  ;  Etna  and  Second,  five  feet  six 
inches  E'na  and  Third,  nine  feet ;  Etna  over  Rachel,  twelve  feet;  Etna  and 
Fourth,  seven  feet  six  inches;  Fourth  and  Hecla,  eight  feet;  Fourth  and  Mill, 
thirteen  leet;  Fourth  and  Vesuvius,  right  feet  ;  Fourth  and  Buckhorn,  eight 
feet ;  Fourth  and  Lawrence,  eight  feet  six  inches;  dironacher's  corner,  on 
pavement,  six  feet  six  inches;  Fourth  and  Railroad,  five  feet  six  inches;  Fourth 
.and  Center,  seven  feet  six  inches;  Fourth  and  Olive,  eight  feet  six  inches.  The 
•water  was  more  than  half  way  from  the  gate  to  the  court-house  steps;  Fourth 
and  Vernon,  seven  feet  six  inches;  E.  II.  Jones'  stable,  eleven  feet;  Third  and 
Vernon,  eight  leet ;  Third  and  Olive.  Mayor's  office,  seven  feet  nine  inches; 
Third  and  Center,  eight  feet ;  Second  and  Center,  six  feet;  Third  Street  in  front 
of  Post  office,  seven  feet;  Third  and  Railroad,  six  feet;  Second  and  Railroad, 
five  feet  four  inches;  foot  of  Dee  office  stairs,  five  feet;  Second  and  Buckhorn, 
«ix  feet  eight  inches;  Second  and  Lawrence,  six  feet  six  inches;  Third  and 
Buckhorn,  seven  feet  four  inches;  Lawrence  and  Second, seven  feet  two  inches; 
Railroad  Street,  over  Rachel,  six  feet  eight  inches.  These  measurements  are 
as  accurate  as  could  be  secured,  and  will  be  found  just  about  the  correct  depth  at 
the  various  crossings  mentioned,  at  ten  o'clock  this  morning. 

The  Irontonian  of  the  i6th  said: 


,70  HISTORY    OF    THE    GKKAT    FLOOD    OF    1884. 

The  City  Council  met  Wednesday  evening  in  the  County  Clerk's  oilice,. 
at  the  court-house,  and  appointed  the  Mayor,  Township  Trustees  and 
City  Engineer  J.  R.  C.  Brown  as  an  Executive  Relief  Committee, 
to  receive  and  distribute  supplies  to  destitute  sufferers.  Owing  to  the 
Township  Trustees  being  engaged  at  the  soup-house  at  Dupuy's  tan- 
nery, and  the  death  of  Mayor  Corn's  son,  which  occurred  Thursday  after- 
noon, another  meeting  of  the  City  Council  was  held,  in  the  Sheriff's  office,  at 
the  court-house,  Thursday  evening,  and  the  following  named  gentlemen  were 
added  to  the  Relief  Committee:  J.  F.  •  Rodarmor,  H.  B.  Wilson,  II.  S.  Neal, 
Ralph  Leete,  John  Campbell,  E.  Bixby,  Geo.  N.  Gray  and  E.  Nigh.  The  Re- 
lief Committee  met  and  organized  by  electing  J.  F.  Rodarmor,  Chairman  ;  J.  R. 

C.  Brown,  Secretary;  F.  C.  Tomlinson,  Assistant  Secretary,  and  H.  B.  Wilson, 
Treasurer.     The  committee  then  appointed  the  following  sub-committees,  upon 
whose  orders   relief  is  furnished:     First    Ward — Peter    Rogers,   Jas.    Kitmey,. 
Col.  J.  Weddle.     Second   Ward— S.   B.    Steece,  Henry  J.  Brady  and    T.  J. 
Hayes.     Third    Ward — Geo.    Lampman,  Rev.   J.    F.  Brie  and  F.  A.    Dupuy. 
Fourth    Ward— Levi  Henry,  John  Culkins   and  T.  R.  Butler.     Fifth  Ward — 

D.  C.  McConn,  T.    R.    Hall  and  J.  C.    Evans.     Upper   Township — John  A.. 
Jones,  M.  J.  Cullen.  Jno.  Wro,  Sol    Wood    and   John    Morgan.      The    Relief 
Committee  appointed  Col.  E.  Nigh^  Chief  Commissary,  and  W.  S.  Kirker  and 
Charles  T.  McKnight,  Assistants,  to  take  charge  of  the  stores  and  supplies,  and 
see  that  thev  are  properly  distributed.     Thursday,  the   soup-house  at  Dupuy's 
distributed   1.746  rations.     Friday  forenoon,  the    Relief  Committee,  with  head- 
quarters in  the    Sheriff's   office,  distributed    1,000  bushels   of  coal,  which  they 
purchased  from  the  Kelly  Nail  &  Iron  Co. 

The  Irontonian  of  the  23d  of  February  said  : 

But  for  the  great  heart  of  the  people  whose  voluntary  tribute  poured  in  from 
Jackson,  Coalton,  Oak  Mill,  Winchester,  Berlin,  Chillicothe,  Fayette  Court 
House.  Lebanon,  Dayton,  Springfield,  Bellefontaine,  Cleveland,  Xenia,  and 
though  last,  not  least,  Columbus,  many  of  our  people  would  have  perished  from 
hunger  and  cold.  The  people  of  Ironton  and  this  county  should  always  re- 
member, and  never  forget  the  untiring  zeal  and  efficient  aid  procured  through 
the  efforts  of  E.  McMillen  and  Chief  Justice  Johnson. 

The  Busy  Bee  of  February  19  said: 

Never  did  we  appreciate  the  true  nobility  of  the  American  people  as  now.. 
Their's  is  a  character  which  shine*  brighest  when  the  darkest  hours  have  come. 
A  week  ago  the  people  of  the  Ohio  Valley  were  in  the  midst  of  calamity  and 
desolation.  Our  own  city  was  but  a  sample  of  hundreds.  The  relentless  flood 
had  driven  thousands  from  their  comfortable  homes.  Women  and  children, 
in  the  pitiless  rain,  were  crying  on  our  streets  for  shelter  and  food. 
Our  local  relief  committees,  backed  bv  the  bi^  hearts  of  generous  citizens,  were 
energetically  providing  all  possible  relief.  But  such  supplies  as  had  not  been 
destroyed  would  soon  be  exhausted.  It  was  a  dark  and  terrible  outlook.  The 


HISTORY    OK    THE    GKKAT    FLOOD    OF    1884.  71 

•toutest  hearted  looked  upon  the  still  encroaching  flood  with  feelings  of  despair. 
Yet,  trusting  in  God,  the  good  work  of  relief  went  manfully  on.  We  could  get 
no  word  from  the  outside  world.  Would  the  rising  waters,  already  far  beyond 
any  former  height,  ever  be  satisfied  ?  At  last  thev  began  to  go  back,  and  their 
slow  departure  only  made  more  apparent  the  sad  wreck  they  had  wrought. 
Many  a  poor  man  sought  his  little  home  to  find  that  the  fierce  current  hnd 
•wept  away  the  last  vestige  of  his  habitation.  The  hard  earnings  of  a  fru  ,;il 
life  were  gone  forever.  The  last  week  has  been  a  sad  and  dreary  one.  It  has 
planted  on  many  a  brow  the  wrinkles  of  care,  which  time  cannot  efface.  But 
the  first  beam  of  sunlight  breaking  in  from  the  world  brings  the  glad  tidings, 
that  the  people  of  the  Ohio  Valley  are  not  forgotten. 

The  story  of  Hanging  Rock,  just  below  Ironton,  is  but  a 
repetition  of  the  sad  tale  told  of  Ironton,  except  on  a  lesser 
scale.  A  large  number  of  houses  have  been  moved  from 
their  foundations.  The  long,  brick  row,  facing  the  river  at 
Hanging  Rock,  fell  with  a  terrible  crash.  There -were  thirty 
persons  in  the  house  at  the  time,  but  none  were  injured.  The 
front  of  the  house  fell  outward,  and  the  inmates  rushed  to  the 
rear  and  escaped  by  boats  before  the  balance  of  the  structure 
fell.  This  building  contained  the  office  of  Means.  Kyle  & 
Co.,  telephone  exchange,  a  ware-house,  J.  B.  McKee's  two 
stores,  mid  a  carpenter  shop,  on  the  first  floor,  while  the 
second  was  occupied  by  residences. 

The  following  correspondence  from  that  place  to  the  Iron- 
ton  Bee  describes  the  situation  : 

The  ruin  to  this  town  cannot  be  fully  described,  and  will  have  to  be  seen  to 
be  realized.  The  flood  of  last  vear  and  the  damage  done  was  nothing  in  com- 
parison to  that  inflicted  on  us  this  time  Taking  everything  into  consideration, 
we  gol  aloii'/  pretty  well,  when  we  remember  that  but  three  houses  were  above 
water,  and  they  entirely  surrounded.  Through  the  untiring  efforts  of  Means, 
Kyle  &  Co  .  and  other  good  people,  the  houseless  ones  were  well  fed,  and  no 
one  was  allowed  to  suffer  for  food.  Some  of  the  refugees  are  moving  back  into 
their  homes,  and  a  gleam  of  hope  and  sunshine  comes  back  to  us. 

The  little  town  of  Greenup,  Ky.,  saw  the  highest  wave  of 
the  flood  on  the  I2th.  At  3  o'clock,  that  afternoon,  it  began 
falling.  The  town  was  altogether  submerged  and  tire  suffer- 
ing was  very  great.  Some  fled  to  Grayson  and  other  points, 
some  camped  on  the  hills,  without  food  or  sufficient  clothing, 
and  a  more  distressing  time  could  not  well  be  imagined.  At 
Riverton,  the  terminus  of  the  Eastern  Kentucky  Railroad, 
the  water  was  into  the  general  offices,  as  well  as  the  fine  resi- 
dence of  the  General  Manager,  a  few  rods  below.  Several 
small  buildings  floated  off  their  foundations,  the  lower  portion 


72  HISTORY    OF    THE    GREAT    FLOOD    OF    1884. 

of  the  town  bearing  pretty  ugly  scars.  The  Little  Sandy 
bridge  lost  three  spans. 

At  Haverhill,  Ohio,  it  was  much  the  same.  The  merchants 
were  all  caught  with  their  goods  too  low,  and  alter  the  flood 
they  were  to  be  seen  hanging  in  every  direction,  clrving  out. 
Between  these  little  places,  on  both  sides  of  the  river,  the 
farmers  lost  much  more  than  did  the  villages,  and  many  had 
a  difficult  task  to  save  their  stock  and  grain,  and  many  did 
not  succeed  in  doing  so,  and  it  will  require  years  for  them  to 
get  back  to  where  they  were  before  the  flood. 

We  are  indebted  to  a  much  esteemed  friend,  a  resident  of 
Portsmouth,  and  an  eye-witness  of  the  flood  at  that  point, 
for  the  following  account  of 

THE    FLOOD    IN    SCIOTO    COUNTY. 

To  look  back  over  the  wreck  and  ruin  inflicted  by  the  ravages  of  the  swollen 
waters  of  the  Ohio  and  Scioto  Rivers  in  this  county,  and  compare  the  condition 
of  affairs  as  they  exist  with  that  of  the  ist  of  February,  1884,  is  not  a  pleasing 
task.  The  crops  in  the  fertile  valleys  of  the  two  rivers  had  been  bountiful. 
Sun  and  showers,  and  a  fructifying  season  had  tilled  the  granaries,  and  huy 
stacks  were  thick  in  the  meadows.  The  patient  farmer  had  happily  turned  the 
glebe  in  autumn,  and  the  wheat  was  green-growing,  and  gave  promise  of  a 
more  lustv  growth  and  a  fruitful  harvest.  His  horses,  cattle,  and  hogs  were 
thriity.  and  while  in  the  manufacturing,  industrial,  and  commercial  world  the 
closing  year  had  fallen  short  ot  the  hopes  and  wishes,  the  farmer  looked  for- 
ward to  that  healthful  reaction  which  his  bounteous  crops  unerringly  indicated 
must  follow. 

The  angry  waters  from  their  mountain  feeders,  growing  in  volume  from  the 
many  tributaries  on  either  side,  overleaped  the  banks  and  swept  away  the  air 
castles,  and  well-grounded  hope  gave  wav  to  the  desolation  of  a  great  despair. 
Fences  were  carried  oft",  and  yet  the  waters  crept  up,  and  the  massive  hay 
stacks  and  the  golden  shocks  of  fodder  were  swept  away  by  the  resistless  tide. 
Cattle,  panic-stricken,  stood  belly  deep  in  the  flood,  and  lowed  piteously,  until 
the  waves  swept  over  them,  and  yet  the  waters  reached  up  to  the  farm  house 
and  drove  the  occupants  to  the  higher  ground,  helpless,  thinly  clad,  and  hungry, 
with  the  waters  behind  them  unbridled  in  the  work  of  destruction. 

For  sixteen  miles  up  the  Scioto  Valley,  the  Ohio  Rrfcer  spread  over  the  low- 
lands, as  far  back  as  the  Scioto  Inn,  a  historic  old  landmark,  dividing  the  line 
of  Pike  and  Scioto  counties,  the  stopping  place  of  the  early  pioneer,  in  the 
brave  old  days  of  primitive  life,  simplicity  and  genuine  hospitality,  taking  wreck 
and  ruin  as  it  advanced. 

In  the  village  of  Sciotoville,  six  miles  above  Portsmouth,  the  center  of  the 
fire-brick  industries  of  the  county,  with  its  population  of  three  to  five  hundred, 
was  almost  completely  submerged,  and  many  of  its  handsome  cottages  over- 
turned or  removed  from  their  foundations,  while  the  suffering  appealed  to  the 
charity  of  strangers  for  immediate  relief. 

The  village  of  Buena  Vista,  thirty  miles  west  of  us,  the  seat  of  the  celebrated 
freestone  quarries  of  this  section,  with  its  enumeration  of  four  hundred  souls, 
fared  still  worse,  many  of  its  houses  being  swept  away  by  the  current.  This 
village  was  cut  off  from  telegraphic  communication  for  nearly  a  week,  and 
hunger  and  destitution  added  to  the  perils  of  the  flood. 

All  down  the  Ohio  Valley,  below  Portsmouth,  for  thirty  miles,  the  currents 
of  the  Ohio  and  Scioto  Rivers,  both  of  which  had  attained  the  greatest  height 


HISTORY    OF   THE    GREAT    FLOOD    OF   1884.  73 

linown  to  their  history,  swept  stock,  fencing,  barns  and  houses  away,  like  feath- 
ers in  a  lusty  gale,  and  at  all  hours  of  the  night  there  was  fleeing  from  water 
invaded  houses  in  frail  barks,  the  rush  of  the  angry  torrent  being  heard  above 
the  cries  of  frightened  children,  and  the  prayers  of  anguished  mothers  for  the 
safety  of  their  loved  ones  It  would  be  impossible  to  exaggerate  the  sutiermg 
which  this  wild  wa^te  of  waters  painted  with  a  master  hand  of  terror  upon  the 
memory  of  those  who  survived  such  scenes  and  incidents  as  have  daily  come 
to  the  knowledge  of  the  writer  since  the  subsidence  of  the  flood.  The  pencil 
•of  a  Guido  could  not  put  the  cruel  life  of  agony  onto  canvas,  suffered  by  many 
who  fled  from  their  homes  for  their  lives,  not  daring  to  look  back  upon  the 
lavitges  which  were  being  left  behind. 

Hundreds  who  never  knew  what  it  was  to  eat  the  bread  of  charity,  and  would 
have  shrunk  from  being  pensioners  upon  the  bounty  of  others,  huddled  together 
in  deserted  cabins  on  the  hillsides,  grateful  for  food  to  sustain  themselves,  while 
the  waters  covered  their  possessions  below  them,  and  thanked  God  that  the 
great  heart  of  humanity  could  sympathize  and  feed  them  in  this  hour  of  their 
desolation  and  enforced  destitution. 

Coming  to  Portsmouth  the  picture  is  even  more  desolate  and  piteous.  True, 
the  farmer  lost  his  growing  crop,  much  stock,  and  many  of  the  products  of  his 
farm,  but  the  land  was  left,  and  in  the  economy  of  nature  he  has  but  to  till  the 
•soil,  and,  like  Job  of  old,  his  possessions  will  come  back  to  him.  But  it  is  dif- 
ferent in  the  city. 

We  had  suffered  greatly  by  the  flood  of  1883,  but  we  had  the  inherent 
strength  to  care  for  our  distressed,  and  with  a  just  local  pride  declined  the  many 
offers  of  our  more  fortunate  neighbors,  who  were  willing  to  share  with  us  the 
burden  of  feeding  the  hungry,  clothing  the  naked,  and  restoring  the  residences 
removed  by  the  flood  of  that  period.  We  did  all  this,  and  asked  no  outside  aid. 

Following  swiftly  upon  this  unavoidable  visitation  came  the  financial  reverses 
of  1^83  in  the  furnace  region,  of  which  Portsmouth  is  the  well  conceded  center. 
So  heavy  were  the  failures  in  the  furnaces  outlying,  which  largely  drew  their 
supplies  from  the  manufactories  and  business  houses  of  this  city,  that  it  was 
a  serious  shock  in  our  commercial  and  monetary  circles,  not  less  than  from  a 
quarter  of  a  million  to  half  a  million  of  dollars  being  tied  up  by  the  failures, 
besides  the  falling  off  in  the  trade  and  traffic  of  the  city  by  iheir  suspension 
thereafter.  To  this  add  the  lethargy  in  the  iron  market,  and  the  stoppage  of 
projected  railroad  building  consequent  upon  the  general  dullness  of  the  coun- 
try, the  blowing  out  of  the  upper  rolling  mill,  and  other  local  disturbances  in 
manufacturing  circles,  and  we  can  see  how  illy  prepared  our  people  were  for  the 
greatest  flood  of  the  century. 

For  one  week  the  waters  gradually  rose  higher  and  higher,  until  one-story 
houses  were  either  hidden  from  sight  or  swept  away.  Tho*e  who  took  refuge 
in  second  story  buildings  cried  out  at  midnight  for  boats  to  take  them  from 
their  rooms  fist  filling  with  the  alien  waters. 

The  wrathful  Scioto  raised  even  higher  than  the  Ohio,  and  our  avenues  run- 
ning north  and  south  were  many  feet  deep  in  water,  with  a  current  that  could 
not  be  stayed,  and  when  the  Scioto  began  to  recede,  the  current  changed,  and 
the  Ohio  rushed  north  as  resistless  as  the  current  of  the  Scioto  had  flowed 
south.  Meantime  houses  were  being  swept  away  like  stubble,  or  piled  one 
upon  another  in  one  mass  of  ruin. 

Years  of  patient  labor  and  hopeful  resolve,  which  had  combined  to  build 
and  decorate,  and  furnish,  and  beautify  happy  homes,  was  as  it  had  not  been. 
Men  built  boats  on  the  house  tops,  from  floating  timber,  hoping  to  save  clothing 
or  bedding  from  the  flood. 

The  school -houses,  engine-houses,  churches,  court-house  and  public  halls, 
were  crowded  with  the  men  and  women  of  wealth,  of  moderate  means,  and  of 
poverty.  But  the  rising  waters  pitilessly  climbed,  inch  by  inch,  until  the  engine- 
houses  were  abandoned,  and  the  second  floors  of  the  public  buildings  were  the 


.74  HISTORY    OF    THK    GUEAT    FLOOD    OF    1884. 

only  protection  from  the  flood.  Many  moved  their  furniture  and  themselves, 
the  third  and  fourth  time,  and  finally  had  to  abandon  their  property  to  save 
themselves. 

Those  who  lived  in  palaces  took  their  cows  on  the  high  porches,  to  save  their 
lives.  Great  barges  were  anchored  in  deep  water  at  the  corner  of"  Second  and 
Chillicothe  Streets,  the  second  highest  ground  in  the  city,  on  which  horses  and 
cows  were  confined,  and  the  frightened  neigh'iig  of  the  former  and  tlie  pitiful 
lowing  of  the  latter  sounded  weird-like  and  fiightful  through  all  the  long  hours 
ot  the  fateful  and  eventful  nights  of  anxiety  and  Ki.fleTing. 

For  nearly  one  week  we  were  shut  out  from  all  communication  with  the  out- 
*ide  world,  both  by  mail  and  telegraph,  and  on  Sunday  morning.  February  10, 
a  disastrous  conflagration  swept  awav  the  telephone  exchange,  denving  us  even 
close  communication  among  ourselves.  Previous  to  this  it  had  been  a  most 
valued  adjunct  in  the  work  ot"  relieving  the  suffering  and  hungrv.  One  instance 
of  the  day  previous  [  recall:  Some  lour  or  live  families  had  taken  refuge  in 
some  of  the  empty  cars  on  the  Scioto  Vallev  Railroad,  on  higher  ground,  and 
Friday  night  they  were  surrounded  by  water,  and  not  until  now  could  they 
communicate  with  the  relief"  committee.  The  writer  received  a  telephone  mes- 
sage that  thev  were  without  food,  and  had  been  for  twenty-four  hour*,  and  the 
committees  were  promptly  notified,  and  their  wants  were  relieved.  When  the 
telephone  exchange  was  destroyed  we  were  even  in  a  worse  condition.  We 
only  knew  the  waters  were  rising,  but  what  was  coming  we  did  not  know,  or  if 
relief  would  come  was  problematical.  Fortunately  our  condition  was  tele- 
graphed from  Lucasville.  a  village  ten  miles  north,  and  soon  relief  began  to 
pour  in.  Telegraphic  communications  were  received  at  Sciotoville,  six  miles 
ea>t.  and  brought  to  us  bv  boat,  and  on  Monday  P.  J.  Weber  came  down  from 
Gallipolis  with  the  gratifving  intelligence  that  the  waters  were  receding  above  ; 
b\\'  all  day  Monday,  and  Monday  night,  and  until  Tuesday  night  of  the  I2th  of 
February,  the  river  raised  until  it  had  readied  sixtv -six  feet  three  inches,  or 
four  ie«.t  seven  inches  higher  than  the  flood  of  1^32,  when  it  began  to  slowly  re- 
cede, and  as  I  write,  on  the  night  of  the  23d.  it  is  out  of  the  city,  but  still  covers 
tin-  Scioto  bottoms,  and  has  covered  them  for  three  weeks. 

In  conclusion,  for  I  have  exceeded  the  space  tendered  me.  we  fed  nearly  ten 
thousand  homeless  people  here,  besides  succoring  the  villages  of  Sciotoville,. 
Hucna  Vista,  and  Springville,  and  the  rural  population  in  the  Ohio  Valley  above 
and  below  us.  and  are  now  feeding  nearly  four  thousand  souls. 

Fully  five  hundred  homes  have  been  swept  away  or  removed  from  their  foun- 
dations. Our  schools  have  not  yet  resumed.  Our  merchants,  manufacturers 
and  farmers  have  lost  heavily,  and  the  loss  in  Scioto  county  will  reach  not  less 
than  $1,250,000. 

But  one  business  house  was  out  of  water,  Fisher's  drug  store,  corner  Sixth 
and  Chillicothe  Streets,  and  the  waves  washed  the  iron  plate  of  the  door. 
There  was  less  than  half  an  acre  of  the  city  out  of  water,  and  only  fiftv  -eight 
houses  that  were  not  inundated. 

Withoiit  fur? her  substantial  financial  relief  it  will  be  impossible  to  replace  the 
homes  of  the  homeless. 

Several  have  died  from  exposure  incident  to  the  flood,  and  taking  it  all  in  all, 
it  will  be  years  before  we  recover  our  lost  ground.  With  hearts  grateful  to 
those  who  came  to  our  relief  with  food,  clothing,  blankets,  tents,  and  money,  I 
must  close. 

At  Vanceburg,  Ky.,  the  water  broke  over  the  banks 
as  early  as  on  Thursday,  February  yth.  By  the  Sunday  fol- 
lowing ihe  town  was  inundated.  Here,  as  elsewhere,  the 
river  had  risen  in  such  a  steady,  stealthly  manner  as  to  cause 
no  alarm,  and  not  until  the  full  force  of  the  advancing  flood 


HISTORY    OF    Tllfc    GRKAT    FLOOD    OF    1884.  75 

was  upon  the  town  did  it  realize  the  fact.  Each  day,  all 
thought,  would  certainly  see  the  highest  point  reached,  and 
often,  very  curiously,  the  mighty  flood  would  pause  and  only 
gain  the  fraction  of  an  inch  in  an  hour,  when  it  seemed  to 
gather  strength  and  would  rush  up  the  next  hour  nearly  three 
inches.  This  was  the  case  all  along  the  river  for  over  200- 
miles,  and  yet  it  was  actually  rising  lor  this  whole  distance  at 
one  and  the  same  moment  of  time — a  very  remarkable  circum- 
stance— though  characteristic  of  both  of  the  floods  of  historical 
note — that  of  December  I7th,  1847,  sixty-three  feet  seven 
inches,  and  February  i8th,  1832,  when  it  reached  sixty-four 
feet  three  inches  (at  Cincin-nati).  When  the  citizens  fully  real- 
ized the  great  calamity  that  was  upon  them,  hours  had  to  be 
spent  in  bustle  and  confusion  in  looking  up  and  preparing 
b  >ats  or  other  conveyance  for  their  vvordly  effects,  and  very 
many  could  do  nothing  but  gaze,  almost  transfixed,  at  a  wide 
and  wasteful  expanse  of  waters  swallowing  up  everything 
almost  between  hill  and  hill.  The  demand  for  conveyances,  of 
course,  at  such  a  time  exceeded  the  supply,  and  those  without 
ready  money  and  plenty  of  it  were  almost  helpless.  Not 
until  Wednesday  following,  February  I3th,  did  the  river 
reach  its  highest  point.  It  was  then  literally  from  hill  to  hill, 
the  celebrated  Alum  Rock,  near  Vanceburg,  rising  majestic- 
allv  grand  above  the  water.  Hundreds  of  people  vi.siled  it, 
and  were  amply  repaid  by  the  grand  sight  there  afforded. 
One  of  the  sorest  trials  and  inconveniences  arising  from  the 
flood  and  not  heretofore  mentioned  was  the  impossibility  of 
obtaining  a  drink  of  palatable  water.  All  wells  and  cisterns 
were  flooded  with  the  muddy,  murky,  sandy  stream,  and  it 
was  terrible  stuff  to  be  compelled  to  use  tor  any  purpose. 
The  Vanceburg  Courier  states  that  the  maximum  reached 
here  was  four  and  one-half  feet  above  all  previous  marks. 
There  was  not  a  family  in  the  place  but  what  lost,  and  though 
not  large  in  the  majority  of  cases,  yet,  fooled  up,  amounting 
to  not  less  than  $50,000,  and  scarce  a  farm  along  the  river 
escaped  a  levy  of  less  than  $150,  running  from  that  to  $1,000 
and  even  more.  By  the  prompt  and  energetic  action  of  the 
leading  citizens  of  Vanceburg,  her  citizens  were  saved  from 
the  extremest  want,  but  it  was  only  through  their  efforts- 
that  it  was'  done.  When  every  town  and  village,  nearly, 
along  the  river  were  appealing  for  aid,  it  required  the  exer- 
cise of  the  best  business  faculties  t<>  obtain  supplies  from  out- 
side sources,  but  it  was  accomplished,  and  the  good  people  of 
Vanceburg  are  happy  it  was  no  worse  with  them  than  it  was. 


76  HISTORY    OF   THE    GREAT    FLOOD    OF    1884. 

At  Wrightsville  the  losses  were  very  heavy  for  a  small 
place,  and  the  inhabitants  had  to  go  through  with  their  trials 
without  that  assistance  that  came  from  organized  charity  so- 
cieties that  larger  places  immediately  set  on  foot.  The  prin- 
cipal losers  were  as  follows  :  Wade  &  Naylor,  John  O'Neil, 
H.  A.  Keets,  John  White,  Dr.  Graham,  S.  15.  Shumate, 
Captain  Wm.  Wade,  Mary  A.  Crawford,  Samuel  Pence, 
James  Burnett,  John  Malone,  Benj.  Leek,  Samuel  Preston, 
Mrs.  E.  Baldwin,  Newton  Baldwin  and  John  Leonard — all 
amounting  to  many  thousands  of  dollars,  and  in  some  cases 
the  last  dollar  swept  away. 

Maysville,  Ky.,  is  another  one  of  those  points  on  the 
•Ohio  River  where  the  equilibrium  of  the  citizen  is  not  orclin- 
^irily  disturbed,  but  as  early  as  the  pth  it  had  reached  the 
high-watermark  of  '83,  and  at  dusk  that  evening  was  only 
wanting  about  three  inches  of  being  as  high  as  in  1832. 
Ton  after  ton  of  iron  had  been  hauled  and  placed  on  the 
Limestone  bridge,  to  keep  it  in  place.  Every  cellar  on 
Second  Street  was  full  of  water,  and  at  the  foot  of  Wall 
^Street  the  water  was  several  feet  deep  ;  on  Second  Street 
passengers  were  being  rowed  across  in  skiffs.  Cox  & 
Poy  liter's  plow  factory  had  suspended,  also  James  H. 
Hail  &  Son's  plow  factory,  Ball  &  Mitchell's  foundry,  and 
others  ;  the  gas-works  had  suspended,  and  many  families  in 
East  Muvsville  had  been  compelled  to  move  from  their  resi- 
dences, abandoning  all  they  possessed  to  the  mercy  of  the 
waters.  In  Chester,  a  suburb  of  Maysville,  more  than  a 
hundred  houses  were  surrounded  with  water.  By  the  nth 
the  entire  river  front,  from  a  mile  below  Maysville  to  three 
miles  above,  was  under  water.  It  was  over  the  Adams  & 
Pangs  and  Thomas  distilleries,  below  the  city,  and  into  their 
bonded  warehouses.  It  covered  all  the  market  gardens  be- 
low, and  was  into  all  the  houses,  and  into  the  second  stories 
of  some.  It  was  in  the  fine  residence  of  Chas.  B.  Pearce, 
in  the  cotton  mill  of  Januarv  &  Woods  ;  it  covered  the  large 
warehouses  at  the  foot  of  Wall  Street,  and  some  of  the  resi- 
dences between  Wall  and  Sutton  Streets.  Two  hotels,  the 
Hill  House  and  the  Central  Hotel,  both  closed  on  account  of 
water  being  on  their  floors.  Eve  v  manufacturing  establish- 
ment in  the  place  was  closed,  and  business  suspended.  The 
Fifth  Ward,  above  Limestone,  was  two-thirds  under  water. 
Chester,  above  spoken  of,  was  by  this  time  overflown  and 
the  people  driven  from  their  residences.  Several  families 
•took  refuge  in  the  school-house,  and  were  twenty-four  hours 


HISTORY    OF    THE    GREAT    FLOOD    OF    1884.  77 

without  food  before  their  condition  became  known.  The 
water-pipes  were  flooded,  and  the  gas  was  turned  off.  The 
water  was  all  over  the  Fair  Grounds,  from  four  to  twelve  feet 
deep.  The  military  were  called  out  to  protect  property  and 
life.  Fully  1,000  people  were  homeless.  Bear  it  in  mind 
that  this  was  at  one  of  the  very  highest  points  on  the  river. 
The  public  schools  were  all  closed  and  the  buildings  taken 
for  refuge  for  the  unfortunate  sufferers.  Some  of  the  manu- 
facturing establishments  sustained  a  total  loss  of  machinery. 
Pearce  Brothers,  millers,  had  a  large  amount  of  bran,  shorts 
and  fine  flour  under  water. 

At  Aberdeen,  Brown  County,  Ohio,  opposite  Maysville, 
the  losses  were  proportionately  as  large,  if  not  larger  than  at 
Maysville.  The  flood  left  the  little  place,  where  so  many 
have  been  united  in  happy  marriage,  desolate  indeed.  It 
will  require  much  more  means  than  she  can  command  to  put 
her  on  her  feet  again.  Aberdeen,  like  most  small  places, 
had  no  facilities  for  communicating  her  sufferings  to  an  out- 
side world,  and  her  damage  was  much  greater  than  was  gen- 
erally known.  The  following  are  the  principal  losers,  but 
not  all:  Mrs.  D.  Power,  P.  N.  Bradford,  Mrs.  Oscar 
Bricker,  Mrs.  Frank  Miller,  Oscar  Bricker,  Wm.  Power,. 
Captain  Ellis,  Goo.  Schlitz,  Mrs.  Payne.  Mrs.  Mary  Hud- 
\\itt,  Captain  Linton,  Mrs.  G.  H.  Wheeler,  James  Praim. 
Captain  John  Small,  John  Archedcacon,  Shelby  Campbell, 
John  O'Haran,  A.  Sorries,  Martin  Hanley,  Mrs.  Sarah  Dav- 
idson, L.  Ruggles.  Lem  Tollie,  Mrs.  Mary  Wisenall,  John 
Campbell,  A.  B.  Power,  Ben.  G.  Ridgeway,  C.  A.  Gates  & 
Co.,  C.  A.  Gates,  Bradford  &  Morman,  Dr.  Guthrie,  Dr. 
Maloy,  Dr.  Heaton,  Captain  Drennan,  Miss  Cotton,  True 
&  Son,  and  others.  Every  stable  in  the  place  is  gone.  Out 
of  a  population  of  800,  685  were  driven  from  their  homes. 

The  Methodist  Church  was  the  lodging  house  for  sixty  fam- 
ilies ;  was  the  headquarters  of  the  Relief  Committee,  and 
packed  to  the  ceiling  with  household  goods  besides.  Here, 
of  course,  the  cry  lor  bread  and  help  went  up,  and  was  glori- 
ously responded  to,  for  which  the  heartfelt  gratitude  of  the 
sufferers  could  only  be  expressed  in  the  silent  tears  that 
trickled  down  their  faces.  It  is  to  be  truly  hoped  that  the 
little  town  may  never  again  witness  such  a  direful  calamity, 
and  that  she  may  soon  recover  from  her  misfortunes  and  be 
able  to  look  upon  the  great  flood  of  1884  as  a  dream,  hardly 
to  be  remembered  except  for  the  good  deeds  enacted  in  that 
time. 


78  HISTORY    OF    THE    GKKAT    FLOOD    OF    1884. 

We  now  come  to  Ripley,  a  well  known  little  business 
town.  The  destruction  here,  according  to  wealth  and  popu- 
lation, is  as  great  perhaps  as  at  any  town  in  the  Ohio  Valley. 
The  water  reached  the  height  of  last  year's  flood  on  the  even- 
ing of  the  9^1.  At  that  time  the  situation  was  litile  short  of 
appalling.  Two-thirds  of  the  town  was  under  water,  and  in 
the  bottoms  scores  of  two-story  houses  were  entirely  sub- 
merged. All  the  business  houses  were  in  water,  and  business 
was  entirely  suspended.  Three  hundred  families  had  been 
driven  from  their  homes,  all  communication  with  other  places 
was  cut  off,  and  great  suffering  was  staring  the  people  in  the 
face.  A  tour  at  this  time  through  the  flooded  town  presented 
a  scene  of  destruction  and  woe  that  was  pitable  to  look  upon. 
It  was  a  long  and  dreary  time  that  the  inhabitants  watched 
from  their  upper  windows  the  rising  of  the  turbulent  waters. 
Many  houses  that  stood  the  invasion  of  last  year  were  now 
swept  away.  On  the  evening  of  the  loth  the  river  was 
twenty-two  inches  higher  than  in  '83,  and  eleven  inches 
higher  than  in  1832.  The  loss  in  the  bottoms  in  the  vicinity 
could  only  be  counted  in  thousands.  Crops  of  tobacco  hang- 
ing in  barns  were  entirely  submerged  ;  fodder,  hay,  fences 
and  the  usual  accompaniments  of  the  flood  were  carried  off. 
On  the  1 2th  the  water  had  gained  five  feet  four  inches  over 
last  year,  and  was  still  advancing,  and  the  situation  growing 
more  desperate  with  each  hour.  By  actual  count  twenty-six 
houses  were  carried  off  since  the  evening  before,  and  the 
loss,  even  if  it  should  go  no  farther,  was  double  that  of  the 
year  before.  Six  of  the  largest  bridges  in  the  county  were 
swept  away,  adding  greatlv  to  th2  burden  of  taxes  necessary 
for  their  replacement.  The  water  finally  reached  the  enor- 
mous height  of  almost  seventy-two  feet,  or  five  feet  six  and  a 
half  inches  above  1832.  On  the  night  of  the  I2th  a  heavy 
wind  storm  arose  and  dashed  the  waves  about  the  buildings 
with  great  force,  causing  many  to  succumb  that  might  other- 
wise have  stood.  Forty-two  buildings  went  down  in  the 
storm,  or  were  forced  from  their  foundations.  It  looked  as 
though  nothing  was  to  be  left  of  the  place.  A  bridge,  costing 
$30,000,  above  Ripley,  was  brushed  away  as  though  but  a 
worthless  piece  of  drift.  Two  bridges  on  Straight  Creek 
were  also  carried  off.  At  Logan's  Gap,  two  miles  from 
Ripley,  a  large  tobacco  factory  belonging  to  Marion  Steph- 
enson  was  completely  wrecked,  and  left  at  the  mouth  of 
E;igle  Creek  ;  six  other  buildings  here  were  also  destroyed. 
The  creeks  of  the  county  were  all  swollen  to  their  utmost 


HISTORY    OF    THE    GREAT    FLOOD    OF    1884.  79 

capacity,  and  in  many  cases  were  rendered  impassible,  bv  be- 
ing obstructed  with  wrecked  houses,  and  the  drift  of  fences, 
logs,  water  gaps,  and  other  debris.  A  local  relief  committee 
was  organized,  and  a  number  of  post  supply  boats  estab- 
lished, but  it  was  found  that  they  had  but  little  to  distribute, 
owing  to  the  wide-spead  destruction  that  had  taken  place, 
and  messengers  with  appeals  to  help  from  starvation  were 
sent  to  neighboring  towns,  and  promptly  responded  to,  but 
as  in  hundreds  of  other  cases,  if  outside  help  had  not  been 
promptly  rendered,  the  direst  suffering  would  have  followed. 
And  as  if  the  waters  could  not  satisfy  the  demon  of  destruc- 
tion, and  while  she  was  yet  lying  prostrate  and  almost  help- 
less, a  lire  broke  out,  and  added  $10,000  more  of  loss  and 
wreck.  Truly  the  scenes  of  hardship  endured  by  the  good 
.people  of  the  Ohio  Valley,  in  February,  1884,  will  be  remem- 
bered while  life  shall  last.  The  following  are  among  the 
heavy  losers,  taken  by  a  correspondent  who,  in  a  skill',  passed 
directly  over  the  roofs  of  many  two-story  houses :  Geo. 
Bartley,  W.  D.  Young,  Doc  Pickerell,  Gilbert  Crosby,  Wm. 
Reinert,  Henry  Campbell,  Jordan  Brown,  John  Culter, 
Latonia  House,  G.  F.  Young,  Samuel  F.  Kelly,  A.  M.  Dale, 
Maria  Brooks,  Mrs.  Loe.  There  are  scores  of  others,  but 
many  could  give  no  idea  of  their  losses,  and  it  seemed  to 
make  them  heart-sick  to  be  interviewed. 

Dover,  a  short  distance  below  Ripley,  lies  foi  the  most 
part  very  high,  but  a  portion  of  the  town  wassubmerged,  and 
the  storm  did  some  damage  here,  too.  Tobacco  warehouses 
all  along  the  River  seemed  easy  prey  to  the  avaricious 
waters,  that  swallowed  them  up  as  some  leviathan  would  a 
small  angle  worm.  Among  the  principal  losers  at  Dover 
were  John  Osborne,  H.  Cushman,  F.  C.  Westfall,  J.  N. 
Boyd,  Mrs.  Newcomb,  Oscar  Hanna  &  Co.,  J.  C.  Hess.  C. 
W.  Hanna,  J.  J.  McMillen,  Mrs.  Evans,  Mrs.  Lucy  Wil- 
liams, Peter  Anderson,  A.  H.  Hanna,  and  Martin  Davis. 
The  Boyd  Manufacturing  Co.  had  9,000.000  feet  of  lumber 
that  was  threatened  with  destruction.  Two  hundred  men 
were  employed  to  save  it,  and  only  10,000  feet  got  away,  and 
that  during  the  wind  storm  before  spoken  of. 

Augusta,  Ky.,  is  noted  everywhere  as  being  one  of  the 
handsomest  towns  on  the  river.  It  is  beautifully  situated  and 
presents  a  fine  appearance  from  the  river.  After  the  flood 
it  was  one  of  the  most  desolate.  Seven-eighths  of  the  place 
\vas  under  water.  All  the  frame  houses  that  were  not 
anchored  or  tied  floated  away,  and  those  that  were  left  were 


80  HISTORY    OK    THE    GKKAT    FLOOD    OF    1884. 

badly  damaged,  and  many  of  the  brick  houses  that  stood  the 
siege  had  to  be  greatly  reinforced  before  being  safe  to  inhabit. 
The  Bracken  Bulletin,  Mr.  Ned  S.  Maxon's  paper,  sa}'s : 
"  The  west  end  of  town  is  completely  ruined  ;  not  a  single 
frame  house  remains  standing  on  its  foundation.  Only  the 
brick  houses  on  Front  Street  are  left,  and  not  a  whole  pane 
of  glass,  door  or  window-sash  remains  in  them.  There  were 
fifty-six  houses  completely  wrecked  and  carried  off,  and 
about  that  many  more  were  damaged  to  such  an  extent  that 
they  were  rendered  useless.  Four  hundred  persons  here  were 
left  houseless  and  desolate.  The  flood  was  iust  six  feet  two 
inches  higher  than  the  flood  of  1883."  It  stood  nine  feet  deep 
in  Mr.  Maxon's  residence  on  Elizabeth  Street,  and  only  lacked 
four  inches  of  getting  into  his  office,  in  the  second  story  of 
the  building  at  the  corner  of  Second  and  Upper  Streets.. 
The  handsome  residences  of  Dr.  T.  S.  Bradford  and  C.  R. 
McCormick,  on  Front  Street,  were  complete  wrecks.  After 
the  water  receded  the  streets  were  so  blockaded  with  houses, 
fences,  and  wrecks  of  all  kinds,  that  it  was  impossible  for  a 
vehicle  to  pass  two  squares  on  any  street.  The  residence  of 
P.  S.  Blades  was  nearly  demolished  by  a  floating  house.  The 
following  were  among  some  of  the  principal  losers:  Louis 
Thomas,  M.  E.  Church,  John  Byae,  Moneyhon,  Kerans  & 
Co.,  Mayor's  office,  Graff  &  Co. /Judge  Minor,  W.  C.  Flem- 
ing, Mrs.  Snider,  Luther  Owen,  Mrs.  Roschi,  Geo.  McKib- 
ben,  Mrs.  Laughlin,  the  Knoedler-Dunbar  rooms,  the  Ken- 
tucky Livery  Stable,  M.  E.  Parsonage,  W.  J.  Irwin,  John 
Dora,  Mrs.  Reeder,  M.  E.  Church,  South.  The  houses  en- 
tirely destroyed  belonged  mostly  to  poor  people  living  in  the 
west  end  of  town,  who,  in  losing  them,  lose  their  all.  The 
Bulletin  said : 

"  No  pen  can  describe  the  heart-rending  scenes  caused  by  the  great  calamity 
that  has  fallen  upon  our  people.  The  hitter  cup  is  full  to  overflowing,  and  yet 
it  seems  to  be  but  the  beginning  of  weeks  of  suffering  and  brain-racking  torture. 
The  lamentations  of  the  scores  of  homeless  ones  are  as  one  great  voice  of  sor- 
row, crying  out  to  the  charitable  world  for  help." 

During  the  heighth  of  the  flood  a  destructive  fire  occurred 
in  the  Orr  Block,  which  destroyed  the  drug  store  stock  of 
L.  P.  Knoedler  and  the  dry  goods  stock  of  J.  E.  Dunbar. 
There  was  ten  feet  of  water  on  the  outside  of  the  building, 
and  a  tank  of  gasoline  and  four  kegs  of  powder  inside.  The 
tank  of  gasoline  sprung  a  leak  and  the  gasoline  ran  out  over 
the  water.  Mr.  Knoedler  and  Joe  Harris  were  sleeping  in 
the  building.  Mr.  K.  went  down  stairs  with  a  lantern  to  see 


HISTORY    OF   THE    GREAT   FLOOD    OF    1884.  81 

I 

how  fast  the  water  was  rising.  The  lantern  ignited  the  float- 
ing gasoline,  and  in  an  instant  the  building  was  in  flames. 
Mr.  K.  jumped  into  the  water,  and  calling  to  Harris  to  save 
himself,  swam  and  worked  his  way  under  the  fire  and  water 
to  the  front  of  the  store,  where  he  was  rescued,  badly  burned. 
Harris  saved  himself  by  jumping  out  of  a  back  window  onto 
a  roof.  Presently  the  powder  exploded  and  Dunbar's  store 
was  in  flames,  which,  after  great  effort,  were  extinguished, 
but  on  Monday  night,  during  a  fearful  storm  of  wind,  a  float- 
ing house  came  along  and  knocked  down  the  walls  of  the 
Dunbar  room  and  the  destruction  was  complete.  Both  stocks 
were  valued  at  $28,000,  on  which  there  was  $12,500  insur- 
ance. The  total  losses  of  Augusta  have  not  at  this  date  been 
estimated,  but  they  are  very  heavy,  and  such  as  it  were  a 
pity  she  cculd  not  have  been  spared. 

The  bottoms  at  the  mouth  of  Bullskin,  emptying  into  the 
Ohio  below  Augusta,  were  all  under  water,  destroying  a 
large  amount  of  tobacco  in  barns.  At  Moscow  and  all  along 
at  every  little  village,  the  people  weighted  their  houses  down 
with  rocks,  and  in  many  instances  were  clinging  to  the  chim- 
neys, waiting  in  great  suspense  for  boats  already  engaged 
to  come  and  take  them  off. 

The  flourishing  town  of  Higginsport,  3,000  inhabitants, 
came  in  also  for  her  share  of  the  great  tribulation  and  mis- 
fortune. Many  accidents  and  narrow  escapes  from  drown- 
ing occurred  at  nearly  every  place  where  great  effort  was 
made  to  save  property  from  the  destroying  elements,  and  the 
efforts  put  forth  by  many  to  save  their  homes  were  advent- 
ur.ais  and  heroic,  but  would  occupy  too  much  space  for  in- 
sei'tion  here.  The  following  were  among  the  heavy  losers : 
Geo.  Bartly,  Chas.  Reisbrick,  Alfred  Chapman,  Louis  Wal- 
ters, John  B.  Young,  Boyd  Manufacturing  Company,  Mr. 
Hensgers,  Joe  Park,  Mr.  Bertz,  Mort  Hamilton,  Eliza  Pot- 
ter, Emanuel  Ott  and  many  others.  All  the  farms  above  and 
below  were  inundated,  and  steamboats,  to  avoid  the  swift 
current  in  the  channel,  ran  right  over  them,  and  oftentimes 
would  get  tangled  up  and  almost  lost  in  the  wilderness  of 
brush  they  would  encounter. 

The  Cincinnati  Commercial- Gazette  chartered  the  steamer 
Kate  Waters  No.  2  on  the  morning  of  the  14th,  and  sent 
her  up  the  river  with  supplies  and  special  correspondents  and 
artists  to  not  only  feed  the  hungry  and  clothe  the  naked,  but 
to  describe  fully  their  wants  to  a  charitable  people,  and  pic- 
ture the  scenes  of  desolation  that  were  everywhere  prc- 


82  HISTORY    OF   THE    GREAT   FLOOD    OF   1884. 

sented.  We  are  indebted  to  this  enterprising  paper  for  many 
facts  and  incidents  in  connection  with  the  Kate  Waters  trip. 

Smith's  Landing,  below  Higginsport,  suffered  consider- 
ably, but  nothing  in  comparison  with  other  places.  In  the 
same  storm  that  carried  off  forty-six  houses  for  Ripley,  her 
light-house  and  ferry-house  went  down  the  river,  and  several 
houses  were  lifted  from  their  foundations. 

Rural  is,  or  rather  was,  a  little  village  one  mile  south  of 
Smith's  Landing,  with  a  population  of  400.  It  is,  or  was, 
in  the  extreme  eastern  corner  of  Clermont  County.  More 
than  forty  houses  composed  the  village.  It  is  completely  de- 
stroyed as  a  town.  Only  five  houses  were  left,  and  these 
were  so  wrecked  as  to  be  uninhabitable,  wind  and  wave  hav- 
ing completely  obliterated  even  the  material  of  which  they 
were  composed.  On 

FEBRUARY  13, 

when  the  water  was  at  its  greatest  height  here,  only  an  eave 
of  a  house  here  and  there  could  be  seen.  That  night,  when 
the  storm  came  to  finish  the  destruction,  the  people  had  all 
fortunately  been  conveyed  to  the  hills,  and  no  lives  were 
lost,  but  the  inhabitants  were  left  penniless  and  destitute,  and 
the  town  will  never  be  rebuilt.  It  is  literally  a  "deserted 
village."  The  school-houses,  country  churches  and  barns 
in  the  neighborhood  accommodate  its  population  until  they 
can  seek  and  find  other  homes.  It  was'the  custom  for  relief 
boats  to  leave  ropes  to  tie  and  make  secure  buildings  and 
bridges,  but  none  ever  reached  here,  for  there  was  nothing 
to  make  fast. 

At  Chilo,  below  Rural,  eleven  houses  were  totally  wrecked 
and  disappeared ;  even  a  tombstone  shop,  with  marble  slabs 
and  monuments,  joined  the  panic  stricken  caravan  of  travel- 
ers to  the  sea,  and  went  where  no  one  knew.  The  following 
lost  their  houses  entirely:  M.  S.  Hall,  Chas.  Conwall,  E. 
Cummins,  Geo.  Heck,  Lee  Sanders,  Ed.  Dickson,  Mrs.  Fry, 
Mrs.  Boy,  Mrs.  Moore  and  John  Rigglesworth.  The  follow- 
ing are  also  badly  damaged :  Chas.  Keiser,  Jas.  Bartless, 
Benj.  Phillips,  Frank  Meritt,  Wm.  Heiser,  Lee  Patterson, 
Wm.  Brown,  Woods  &  Brother,  John  Berlew,  Nancy  Prae- 
ther,  John  Sanders  and  James  Greene. 

Neville,  in  Clermont  County,  was  one  of  the  worst  used 
towns  by  the  flood  along  the  river.  It  was  fairly  engulfed 
and  buried  in  water.  Possessed  of  a  population  of  500  peo- 
ple, not  one  has  a  home  left  not  seriously  damaged.  At  a 


HISTORY    OF   THE    GREAT   FLOOD    OF    1884.  83 

very  critical  moment  with  many  houses,  that  same  merciless 
storm  that  already  had  joined  forces  with  the  flood,  came 
along  and  rocked  and  tottered  all  but  three  or  four  houses  off 
their  foundations.  It  did  more  damage  than  the  flood  had 
yet  done,  coming  in  the  night  time,  when  a  few  had  remained 
to  try  to  look  after  their  property,  and  a  large  number  were 
confined  in  the  narrow  quarters  afforded  by  the  school-house, 
carried  a  terror  with  it  that  is  indescribable.  It  rolled,  wave 
after  wave,  over  the  doomed  village,  and  played  with  the 
tottering  structures  as  though  they  were  so  many  spools  in 
the  paws  of  a  playful  kitten.  The  following,  among  others, 
are  known  to  have  lost  their  homes  entirely :  Mrs.  Anna 
Reilly,  Mrs.  Phebe  Willis  and  Mrs.  Larkin — three  widows  ; 
Samuel  Hastings,  M.  Woods,  J.  Plummer,  John  Eiler,  Mrs. 
Wardlow,  J.  R.  Downs,  John  Brophy,  Wm.  Black  &  Co., 
Aaron  Gibson,  Geo.  Bronson  and  Rev.  J.  C.  Waite.  Large 
warehouses  and  buildings  were  lifted  up  and  set  down  on 
land  belonging  to  others.  Rev.  Waite's  house,  above  spoken 
of,  floated  a  mile  below  town  and  was  lodged  on  Samuel 
Lemon's  farm,  against  a  steep  hillside,  where,  when  the 
water  went  down,  the  house  tumbled  over.  This  farm  has 
lodged  a  dozen  houses  out  of  the  flood,  notwithstanding  it 
lost  some  itself,  among  them  a  large  warehouse  for  tobacco, 
owned  by  Mr.  Lemon.  Only  one  monument  stood  above 
water  in  the  old  graveyard — that  of  Captain  John  McClain, 
a  pioneer  steamboatman,  long  since  dead. 

At  Foster's  Landing,  opposite  Neville,  there  was  scarcely 
a  stable  or  outbuilding  left.  Several  houses  joined  the  pro- 
cession, and  several  were  moved  from  their  foundations. 

Moscow,  the  next  town  below,  comes  in  with  many  wounds 
and  grievances  from  the  flood.  In  1883  it  was  thought  she 
had  suffered  enough  for  one  generation,  but  misfortunes 
come  not  alone,  and  she  was  called  upon  to  again  undergo 
suffering  which,  compared  with  '83,  made  that  year  but  a 
circumstance.  In  1883  thirty-five  houses  stood  entirely  out 
of  water.  In  1884  there  was  but  one  that  was  out.  An 
average  depth  of  seven  feet  of  water  covered  the  town,  the 
streets  being  navigable  from  the  upper  to  the  lower  side  and 
back  to  the  hills.  Here,  very  singularly,  the  churches  could 
not  be  used  for  refuge,  owing  to  the  fact  that  they  were 
flooded.  In  nearly  every  town  along  the  river  the  churches 
have  been  elevated  sufficiently  to  afford  a  retreat  to  those 
driven  from  their  homes.  Three  feet  of  water  was  on  the 
floor  of  the  M.  E.  Church.  The  second  story  of  the  school- 


84  HISTORY    OF   THE    GREAT    FLOOD    OF    1884. 

house  and  the  third  stories  of  the  Masonic  and  Odd  Fellows* 
Halls  afforded  accommodations  to  many  families.  The  water 
here  surpassed  the  best  efforts  of  '83  by  going  seventy-three 
inches  higher.  Many,  in  fact  nearly  all  of  the  women  and 
children,  went  to  the  country.  The  following  had  their 
houses  moved  .  from  their  foundations  :  Mrs.  Metcalf,  two  ;. 
Mrs.  Lellyet,  John  Manning,  Dr.  Moore,  John  Bayless, 
Mrs.  Glaser,  Jas.  Carnes,  Mrs.  Young,  Mrs.  Wylie,  Dr. 
Cole,  Mrs.  Parker.  The  following  had  houses  to  float  away 
from  their  foundations:  Mrs.  Glaser,  Robert  Johnson, 
Frank  Denkinger,  Reardon  &  Son,  Mr.  Hiding,  William 
Gregg,  Town  Jail,  Johnston  &  Kinsey,  John  Manning,  Syd. 
Gushing,  Geo.  W.  Nash,  Wm.  Young,  Theo.  Hughes, 
McGrath  &  Lane,  Deyman  &  Gates,  Wesley  Fee,  Mrs. 
Dorsey.  The  following  had  the  water  to  reach  their  second- 
story:  Wm.  S.  Gregg,  Will  Fisher,  Chas.  Cushard,  Geo. 
Manning,  Prof.  J.  G.  Moorhead,  G.  G.  Sargent,  editor  o' 
Moscow  Telegram\  Misses  Woodruff,  Hugh  McLean,  Mrs. 
Anna  Scott,  Geo.  Buchanan,  Lewis  Camery,  Johnston  & 
McKinney,  B.  F.  Fisher,  B.  G.  Wood.  Mr.  C.  A.  Cline,  after 
midnight  the  night  of  the  windstorm,  was  working  with 
others  to  save  property,  when  the  storm  drove  him  on  to  the 
roof  of  his  stable  for  safety,  which  was  up  to  the  eaves  in 
water.  It  presently  toppled  over  with  him  and  he  jumped 
into  the  flood,  but  was  rescued  by  friends.  The  stable  and  a 
fine  family  carriage  floated  off  and  were  never  heard  of 
afterward. 

At  Point  Pleasant,  O.,  it  was  but  a  repetition  of  the  same 
sad  story:  narrated  of  other  small  towns.  This  town  is 
famous  as  having  been  the  birthplace  of  General  U.  S. 
Grant.  He  was  born  here  April  27,  1822.  His  parents 
afterward  moved  to  Georgetown,  but  here  it  was  the  General 
first  heard  the  songs  of  birds,  and  the  house  in  which  he  was 
born  still  remains.  It  is  situated  two  squares  from  the  river. 
It  was  the  first  time  in  its  history  that  it  had  been  invaded  by 
the  water.  The  water  about  the  house  was  from  one  to  two 
feet  deep.  The  Commercial  Gazette  says  : 

"  The  house  is  frame,  with  the  space  between  the  weatherboards  and  the 
plastering  filled  in  with  bricks  and  mortar.  It  is,  therefore,  unusually  strong 
No  one  in  the  neighborhood  knows  its  age  or  history,  but  the  people  of  the 
town  are  very  proud  to  point  to  it  as  the  center  of  a  great  deal  of  interest  to 
the  world.  It  has  been  kept  in  good  repair  on  account  of  its  historical  value, 
and  nothing  has  been  changed  in  its  surroundings  since  the  youngster  Ulysses 
first  made  the  windows  rattle.  In  the  winter  of  1822-23  the  big  back- lo<j  in 
those  old-fashioned  chimneys  at  the  side  of  the  house  sent  up  its  scintillations 


HISTORY    OF   THE>  GREAT    FLOOD    OF   1884*'  85' 

'for  the  amusements  of  the.  baby  destined  to  make  the  spates  -fly  in  another 
way.  The  house  is  occupied  by  Mr.  Charles  Morgan  and  fam.ily,,  and  is  the 
property  of  Mr.  Michael  Hirsch,  who  may  be  wise  enough  to  l^et  it  alone." 

The  issue  of  the  Commercial-  Gazette  of  February  17,  has 
.a  sketch  of  this  rude  looking  old  house  as  it  appeared  at  that 
time.  The  losses  were  not  large  here,  and  the  incon- 
veniences and  privations,  not  near  so  great  as;  at  mbst  points. 

At  California^  Ky.,  'the  storm  lifted  ;aH  one-story  houses 
from  their  foundations  and  unsettled  many  others,  but  none 
were  carried  away.  It  was  impossible  for  boats  to  land,  ajid 
the  only  way  the  inhabitants  got  relief  was  to  send  out  skiffs 
to  the  passing  steamers  that  were  on  errands  of  mercyv 

New  Richmond,  O.,  a  little  below  Californiay  is"  a  town  of 
.3,000  inhabitants.  One-third  of  the  population  is  colored, 
who  in  the  best  of  times  live  poorly  and  from  hand  to 
mouth.-  'During  the  flood  their  destitution  was  very  great. 
Hundreds:  of  -houses-  were  submerged; : entirely'.  The  to\Vn 
hall,  churches,  school-'houses  and  society -halls  were  filled 
with  women  .and  children*  of, ".all  agesy  sexes  ail  d>  social  stan  d- 
ing-:.  The  wealthiest  people  were  cooped  up  ih.  attics  or  the 
highest  stories,  cooking1  off  of  grates  and  their  rooms  crowd^ 
H2d  .beyond; nll:(comfor,t  and  almost  beyond  efridufahceT  '  An 
iiniisual.number  of  people  .were/  sicfc 'at  the  tinie,  and-marty 
dangerously  so,  and  altogether'the  situation  /was  ;doubly "uh- 
•comfortable  and  distressing;  Cut  6fF  as  :tfoey  >veve  for  a 
week  or  ten  .days  from  the,-  6iitside  vV.orld ,  the ;  water-  coroi ng 
•constantly  up  day  and  nighty  provisions:  a,nd  fuel'nearly  ex- 
hausted ,  the  water  on  the  first  floor  of  every  store  and 
grocery,  and  in  many  cases  up  to  the  roof.' and  only  the  sec- 
ond stories  of  the  hotels  and  largest  buildings  being  used,  it 
was  a  terrible  experience — so  terrible  indeed  that  the  citizens 
came  near  losing  all  hope.  Batavia  wagoned  provisions  to 
the  afflicted  town  daily,  but  they  were  inadequate  to  the  de- 
mand, and  a  vast  amount  of  suffering  was  endured.  Eleven 
towns  and  villages  are  spread  along  the  Ohio  in  Clermont 
County;  all  were  submerged-,  all  crying  for  help,  and,  all 
with  the  same  sad  story  in  their  mouths  of  houses  gone, 
liousehold  goods  lost, "stock  drowned,  cemeteries  disinterred 
of  the  dead,  and  people,  madly  fleeing  from  their  all  for  their 
lives  and  the  safety  of  their  families,  oftentimes  rushed  out 
in  the  night  with  hardly  enough  clothing  to  cover  their 
nakedness — it  was  an  awful  situation.  The  towns  of  Bata- 
•vta,  Milford,  Boston,  WiHiamsburg,  Stone  Lick  and  other 
places  oame  up  nobly  to  the'  rescue  'and  thrfew 'into  the  plate 


86  HISTORY    OF   THE    GREAT   FLOOD    OF    1884. 

four-horse  loads  of  provisions,  one  alter  another,  to  stay  the 
famished  stomachs  of  the  people,  and  it  was  no  small  task 
to  feed  even  for  one  day  near  2500  people  unable  to  help 
themselves,  but  it  was  done,  by  what  exertion  and  by  what 
sacrifices  and  liberality  will  never  be  told  by  tongue  or  pen. 
The  water  was  eight  inches  deep  in  the  second-story  of  D. 
L.  Weinnan's  office,  the  editor  of  the  New  Richmond  Inde- 
pendent. The  ceiling  of  the  telegraph  office  was  two  feet 
under  water.  Over  a  mile  of  the  New  Richmond  narrow- 
gauge  railroad,  together  with  the  long  trestle  west  of  townr 
had  risen  bodily  from  the  ground,  the  ties  bearing  the  rails 
above  the  water.  The  losses  in  all  this  region  to  town,  vil- 
lages, and  farms  between,  are  immense,  and  can  never  be 
computed. 

We  now  find  ourselves  at  California,  Ohio,  in  the  ex- 
treme east  end  of  Hamilton  County,  a  town  of  400  inhabit- 
ants. The  Little  Miami  River  empties  into  the  Ohio  just 
below.  The  citizens  of  this  town  suffered  so  severely  by  the 
flood  of  1883  that  as  soon  as  it  became  evident  that  a  repeti- 
tion of  last  year's  scenes  were  on  the  programme,  they  pack- 
ed their  things,  and  all  who  could  deserted  the  town  and 
abandoned  it  to  its  fate.  From  the  New  Richmond  pike  to- 
the  river  front,  the  whole  town  was  under  water.  Green- 
wood's Hall,  the  Odd  Fellows'  Hall  and  Township  Hall 
were  densely  packed  by  those  that  remained,  and  the  cook- 
ing was  done  under  great  difficulties  on  top  of  the  heating 
stoves.  Until  last  year  California  was  comparatively  unin- 
jured by  the  rises  in  the  Ohio,  and  it  was  a  source  of  great 
congratulation  to  her.  When  the  water  advanced  to  the 
very  threshold?  of  the  dwellings  last  year,  many  went  to  bed 
with  the  firm  convicLon  that  the  water  was  as  high  as  it 
would  get,  and  were  too  incredulous  to  remove  the  carpets 
from  the  floors,  or  do  a  thing  until  all  of  their  household 
property  on  the  first  floors  was  floating  around  in  three  or 
four  feet  of  water.  This  year  they  thought  they  were 
doing  all  in  the  world  necessary  to  be  done  when  they 
put  their  things  on  scaffolds  two  and  three  feet  above  last 
year.  As  many  as  thirty  people  in  the  place  last  year  re- 
fused to  move  their  horses  and  cows  to  the  hills  until  there 
was  a  raging  current  from  five  to  ten  feet  deep  in  the  lower 
part  of  town,  and  the  highlands  above  the  New  Richmond 
pike,  a  distance  of  nearly  half  a  mile.  At  last,  when  it  was 
patent  to  the  most  stolid  that  they  must  either  be  ferried 
across  or  perish,  it  was  necessary  to  build  a  large  flatboat,  on 


HISTORY    OF   THE    GREAT   FLOOD    OF    1884.  87 

which  they  were  put,  one  or  two  at  a  time,  and  towed  ashore  by 
skiffs,  which,  when  occasionally  the  animals  were  slightly  frac- 
tious, was  attended  with  no  small  degree  of  danger,  as  sev- 
eral of  the  horses  were  thrown  overboard  in  mid-stream,  and 
had  to  struggle  hard  to  save  themselves.  The  cattle  were 
ferried  over  from  the  Old  Ross  Place  (the  highest  point  be- 
tween the  pike  and  the  Kentucky  shorej,  and  at  one  time 
the  old  place  presented  the  appearance  ot  a  Western  "round- 
up," from  the  number  of  cattle  awaiting  transportation. 
Nothing  of  this  kind  was  necessary  this  time  ;  ever}''  horse 
and  cow  was  removed  in  good  time,  and  every  carpet  was 
ready  to  pull  up  at  a  moment's  notice ;  so  that  while  the  in- 
convenience is  of  course  very  great,  the  damage  to  house- 
hold effects  is  slight  compared  to  last  year.  The  same  con- 
dition of  affairs  applies  to  neighboring  farmers.  Among 
them  the  heaviest  loser  was  Mr.  James  Parker,  proprietor  of 
Parker's  Grove  Picnic  Ground,  whose  losses  to  houses  and 
crops  was  very  heavy.  Mrs.  Ebersole  lost  an  immense 
amount  of  corn  in  the  crib  and  hay  in  the  immense  old  barn 
which  has  stood  the  floods  of  seventy  years.  It  was  built  in 
1808,  of  immense,  heavy  hewn  logs,  on  a  spot  so  high  as  to 
defy  all  previous  floods.  Her  son  Stanley  this  year  kept  a 
large  force  at  work  several  days  removing  the  corn  and  hay, 
so  that  their  loss  will  be  much  less  than  last  year,  though 
they  will  again  this  year  have  an  immense  amount  of  drift  to 
clear  away  after  the  water  subsides.  But  with  all  the  prepa- 
rations made  the  water  kept  creeping  over  where  it  was 
thought  impossible  for  it  to  come,  and  after  the  scaffolds 
were  reached  it  was  impossible  to  remove  anything,  and  the 
water  was  left  to  work  its  ruin.  The  Enterprise  Foundry 
folks  put  their  sand  two  feet  above  last  year,  and  again  re- 
moved it  upon  the  rafters.  It  will  be  remembered  the  old 
foundry  caved  in  last  February,  and  the  immense  roof  floated 
down  the  river.  The  large  building  adjoining  withstood  the 
flood,  and  Mr.  Barney  Schilling  bought  it,  and  has  since 
been  using  it  for  his  livery  stable  business.  He  removed  all  his 
valuable  horses  and  vehicles,  including  his  valuable  imported 
stallion,  to  high  ground.  It  was  fortunate  he  did  so,  for 
the  walls  crumbled,  and  the  large  roof  floated  off  in 
search  of  its  companion  of  years  gone  by.  Mr.  Schilling's 
loss  in  hay,  corn,  etc.,  will  be  serious,  but  he  is  consoled 
by  the  fact  that  he  saved  his  imported  stock,  which  loss 
would  have  been  irreparable.  The  citizens  of  California  in- 
deed had  a  very  hard  time  of  it.  Their  losses  in  1883  were  very 


88  HISTORY    OF    THE    GREAT   FLOOD    OF   1884. 

heavy,  and  to  suffer  again,  and  even  more  severely  at  this  time, 
was  enough  to  entirely  discourage,  if  it  would  do  to  give  way 
under  the  pressure  of  adversity.  Many  working  and  larm  peo- 
ple had  not  recovered  from  their  losses  of  last  year  when  this 
flood  came  and  drove  them  the  second  time  from  their  'homes  ^ 
For  more  than  a  week  over  "100  houses  were  flooded,  some 
carried  entirely  away,  and  others  damaged  to  such  an  extent 
as  to  be  altogether  uninhabitable.  At  least  fifty  families  were 
homeless  until  their  houses  were  rebuilt  or  made  over.  Some 
of  the  farmers  of  that  section  till  rented  ground,  and  have 
lost  two  successive  crops.  Nine-tenths  of  the  people  suffered 
so  severely  that  many  utterly  despaired  of  "ever  attempting  to 
get  a  foothold  again;  and,  in  fact,  this  is  true  of  every  in- 
undated district  the  length  of  the  river.  But  we  must  pass 
on,  and  continuing  our  journey  through  scene  after  scene  61 
desolation,  we  arrive  at  Cincinnati,  justly'  styled  the  Queen 
City  of  the  West,  on  the  morning  of  St.  Valentine's  Day, 

FEBRUARY  14,  1884. 

A  sad  valentine  it  is  for  this  beautiful  city .  The  water  readi- 
ed its  greatest  height  here  at  12  o'clock  noon,  making  the  al- 
most incredible  height  of  SEVENTY-ONK  FEET  THREE-FOURTHS 

OF  AX  INCH,  OR  FOUR  FEET  EIGHT  AND  THREE-QUARTER 
INCHES  HIGHER  THAN  IN  1883. 

We  leave  it  to  the  Cincinnati  papers  to  describe  the  situa-i 
tion  of  that  city,  as  it  was  at  the  height  of  this  torrent  of 
waters. 

• 

[From   the  Enquirer,  February,  15.] 

The  condition  of  the  flood  sufferers  of .  the  extreme  East  End  at  the  present 
time  is  worse  than  ever.  The  cold  weather  which  sprang  up  night  before  last 
has  driven  them  to  temporary  homes  in  the  railroad  cars. 

At  Linwood  the  levee  is  entirely  covered  by  water,  and  Mount  Washington 
and  Newtown  are  completely  cut  off  from  any  connection  with  the  city. 

At  Columbia,  every  house  south  of  the  railroad  for  several  miles  is  under 
water.  In  "both  Pendleton  and  Columbia  every  submerged  building  has  been 
raised  from  its  foundation, and  it  is  safe  to  say  that  not  a  house  in.  Pendleton 
is  resting  in  its  oiiginal  position.  In  spme  places  there  is  to  be,  found  a  group 
of  three  or  four  houses  floating  about  in  the  water,  which  are  only  prevented, 
from  drifting  away  by  the  eddies  created  by  the  water  passing  over  the  streets.' 

All  through  Fulton  the  flood  has  played  sad  havoc.  Ferries  have  been  es- 
tablished between  the  East  End  Garden  and  Torrence  Road,  and  from  Tprrenqe 
Road  to  Ferry  Street,  also  on  Pearl  Street,  from  Kilgour  to  Butler,  and  on  Third 
Street,  from  Lock  to  Fourth  and  to  Butler  Street.  They  are  all  doing  a  profi- 
table business. 

Every  house  south  of  the  Little  Miami  Railroad  from  Linwood  to  tb.e;Mimr«i 
depot  is  submerged,  and  much  damage  is  being  doi\e  to  the  manufactories,  aj.id 
along  the  streets. 


'OF'  THE    GREAT    FLOOll  OF  1884, 


:    tJ  &&<£    »'     J :.  THE    \<TE^T    ENiy 

All, day  yesterday  in  th$  Millcreek  bottoips  the  scenes  of  the  past  few  days 
•we're  re-eaacted. . '*rhe4uffejing  increased  tenfold,  not  from  the  rising  waters. 
but  from  the  cold,  biting  atmosphere  that  penetrated  the  flooded  house*  and 
caused  the  inmates  to  huddle  more  closely,  together  in  their  .efforts  to  keep 
warm.  Desperate  means  were  used  in  some  cases  to  keep  out  the  cold,  window; 
shutters  and  doprs  being  taken  from  their  hinges,  broken  up  and  burned.  The 
few  relief  bpats..in 'this  vicinity  wprkecJilike  Trojans  to  supply  the  destitute  with 
coal,  but  it  seemed  ,that>  do.  what  ther  would,  the  demand  continued  to  in,-. 
crease.  , 

On  every  hand  they  ..were  met  with  piteous  appeals,  curses  and  demands  for 
fuel.  There  is  a  considerable  number  of  persons  in  .the  flooded  district  in  and 
•adjacent  to  Millcreek  whp  imagine  that  (he  Relief  Committee  and  boats  are 
put  there  to  answer 4heic  beck  .a.nd  .calf,  and  .whenever  any  of  them  imagine 
they  are  slighted,  or  their  demands  riot  acceded  to  in  an  instant,  they  heap  a 
tirade  of  ahu*e  upon  the' heads' of-"  the  Good  Samaritans  that  almost  causes  the 
atmosphere  .to  turn  blue..  ••••,!'• 

N-o  serious  accidents  occurred  in  this  locality  yesterday.  Several  small 
frame  houses  were  loosened  from  their  foundations,  and,  in  one  or  two  case*, 
wereoverturnedi  <A  boat  filled  with'paseengersJor  the  Ohio  and  Mississippi 
overturned  when  near  the  foot  of 'Sixth  Street.  All  the  passengers  were  res- 
cued. One  who  went  under  with  valise  in  hand  reappeared  without  that  very 
necessary  traveling  appendage.  ;  The  valise  not  coming  to  the  surt'ace,  one  of 
thexlrenclied  passengers  plucked  up >  courage  enough  to  sa.y  that  the  cork  must 
have  got  out 'of  the  bottle. 

At  rive  o'clock  last  evening'the  water  from  Liberty  Street  had  connected 
wi'th  tliat  on  Frt-e'man Avenue'  coming  north;  and  that  corner  was1  covered  ;<> 
i  he' dep'tli  of ''nearly  two  feet.  "  The  Water.  In  MUlcreek  is  supposed  to  be  wide-r 
opposite  Wade  Street,  wherSjft  has  reached  to  within  a  few  feet  of  Ba\mil'er 
Street,  and  reaches  to  WalkeVTrtfH  ro'ad  on  the  We"st.  'This,  of  course,  rnerfns: 
the  territory  north  of  Sixth' 'Sfretet.  :The  icy  edges  of  the  flooded  district  were 


lined,  as  usHaf;  afToT  yesterclaf  ,H^rtr?thte  turious,  whose  faces,  brightened  when- 
ever the  reborkTef"  a^rbbaWe'H^rrd  6r  fall ywere  given  out: 

"   .<.  i  .  :;   .'-•    -j. :'.'•': .'•    . ,  -•>:    ••:'•     ••   • ' 


The  cold  wave  which  swept  over  the  tfty  Wednesday  nigh't  and  continued 
yesterday  had  no  apparent;  eff#ptp/i4he., th-rpngs  pf  peppje  visiting  the  flooded 
districts  east  of  Vine  Street.  As  early,  as  nine  o'clock  in  the  morning, the  boat- 
men were  as  bus\' as  bees  currying  passengers  to  and  from  tlie  bridges,  and 
rowing  them  bver'ihe  flooded  streets.  Tlie  ladies. in  their  heavy  wraps  and  the 
gentle'men 'likewfse  seemed  tiot  tb'crire  fpr  the  sharp  breeze  that  blew  over  the 
waters,' and  whistled  around  the  corners  in  the  telegraph  wires.  Quite  a  num 
ber'of  ladies  Were  observed  riding  through  the  flooded  streets  wrapped  in  seal- 
skin cloaks,  and  seemingly  enjoy ingj  their  novel  trip. 

On  Vine  Street  a  temporary  walk , had  been  erected,  leading  out  into  the 
water  several  feet,  from  which  passengers  could  embark  in  skiffs.  At  Walnut 
Slreetin  the,  afternoon  the  jam  of  people,  was  very  great  In  the  passage  w,ay 
formed  bv  fences  built  bv  the  bridge  company,  leading  to  the  platform  .landing 
for  their  flat-boats,  they  "were  packed  closely,  awaiting  their  turns  for  transport 
tation  to  the  bridge...  . .,  i  o  v>:.ri  ?•!;  -••>  ,-uh--"  '  ' 

Third  Street  was  crowded  with  pedestrians  going  from  street  to  street  leading 
to 'the  river  At  each  one,  some  of  them  stopped  fpr  a  look  at  the  water,  and 
then  on  to  the  next 

The  continued  rise  of  the  water  Wednesday  night' floated  away  the  pfank 
wafk  leading  to  the  Newport  bridge  from  Pearl  "Street.  This  left  "the  only  ap- 
proach to  the  bridge  to  be  by  means  of  boats,  and  the  boatmen  had  all  they 


90  HISTORY    OF   THE   GREAT   FLOOD    OF   1884. 

could  do  to  accommodate  the  many  persons  desiring  to  gain  a  sight  of  the- 
waters  from  the  bridge. 

On  both  the  bridges  all  day  sight-seers  were  plenty,  facing  the  keen  north- 
west wind  with  apparent  indifference.  The  extraordinary  expanse  of  water 
had  more  attraction  than  the  cold  had  effect. 

Through  the  flooded  streets  the  relief  boats  were  hurrying  here  and  there,, 
taking  people  out  of  buildings  who  could  not  stand  the  cold,  added  to  the 
dampness,  and  furnishing  food  and  fuel  to  those  who  still  clung  to  the  water- 
bound  houses.  Both  relief  and  police  boats  were  doing  good  work  yesterday,, 
and  tliey  found  an  abundance  of  it,  enhanced  by  the  cold  snap.  It  is  almost 
impossible  to  describe  the  suffering  in  Pendleton,  where  fully  eight  hundred, 
houses  were  completely  submerged,  and  fully  four  thousand  persons  are  ren- 
dered homeless.  At  the  present  writing  nearly  every  house  has  been  swerved 
from  its  foundation,  and  many  are  floating  about  the  streets.  The  high  winds 
which  prevailed  yesterday  carried  away  more  than  twenty  houses. 

THE    SITUATION    AT   CUMMINSVILLE. 

The  water  reaches  in  an  unbroken  sheet  from  the  Stock  Yards  to  GrearV 
Turf  Exchange,  on  Spring  Grove  Avenue.  Many  buildings  are  toppling  over, 
and  the  damage  will  be  very  great  to  frame  houses.  Furniture  that  was  stored 
in  the  second  story  rooms  of  buildings  has  been  removed  from  hundreds  of 
houses,  the  water  having  reached  a  depth  of  three  and  five  feet  on  the  upper 
floors.  The  marble  slab  erected  last  year  to  mark  the  highest  point  reached  l>y 
the  water  on  the  knoll,  on  which  is  situated  the  old  Knowlton  homestead,  is. 
several  feet  under  water.  Every  submerged  family  that  can  afford  it,  now 
owns  a  boat.  A  rough  box  boat  costs  from  five  to  eight  dollars.  The  supply 
of  coal  oil  here  has  about  run  out,  and  there  is  none  for  sale  at  the  stores.  The 
people  are  cautioned  to  use  what  they  have  sparingly,  or  they  will  soon  be  left 
in  total  darkness  The  police  were  requested  to  arrest  all  intoxicated  persons- 
found  on  the  streets  and  lock  them  up  for  safe  keeping.  The  Chief  of  the  Fire 
Department,  Mr  Bunker,  visited  this  place  yesterday,  to  make  arrangements, 
if  possible,  to  provide  better  protection  from  fire  out  here,  as  our  engine  can. 
only  protect  four  blocks  of  Precinct  A,  the  rest  of  the  plugs  being  under  water. 
The  Twenties  are  busy  pumping  water  day  and  night,  keeping  the  supply  up- 
in  the  mains  out  here.  The  Knowlton  Street  School  House,  which  is  now  being 
used  as  a  relief  depot,  is  accommodating  two  hundred  lodgers.  Over  eight 
hundred  rations  were  given  out  yesterday. 

CINCINNATI'S  NOBLE  CHARITY. 

The  work  of  the  Relief  Committee  still  goes  bravely  on,  and  Cincinnati  has 
full  reason  to  be  proud  of  her  organization.  From  the  Chairman  down  to  the 
watchman,  who  "holds  the  fort"  at  night,  all  hands  have  labored  with  a 
steadv  and  persevering  effort,  throwing  all  their  will  and  strength  into  the  work, 
as  if  the  sufferers  were  bound  to  each  and  every  one  by  the  strongest  ties  of' 
relationship.  The  Queen  City  presents  to-day  a  picture  which  calls  forth  the 
admiration  of  the  world,  and  shakes  the  belief  of  the  veriest  cynic.  Herself  a. 
sufferer  in  no  small  degree  from  the  ravages  of  this  mighty  overflow,  she  nobly 
declines  all  proffers  of  aid  from  without  in  favor  of  places  where  the  suffering 
is  greater  in  proportion,  while  all  her  citizens,  from  careless  youth  to  tottering 
age.  come  forward  with  their  offerings  upon  the  altar  of  sacred  Charity.  Here 
the  working  man  places  his  dime  beside  the  dollar  of  the  millionaire,  and  both 
work  side  by  side,  shoulder  to  shoulder,  in  the  labor  of  love,  giving  everything, 
expecting  nothing,  but  all  uniting  their  best  efforts  in  answering  the  wail  of 
suffering  humanity.  The  cry  of  distress  rises  from  the  turbid  waters  ot  the- 
swollen  Ohio,  and  its  note  has  not  died  away  before  the  flag  of  relief  is  nailed 
to  the  mast,  and  all  embark  in  the  common  cause.  No  impassioned  appeal  01 
orator  or  poet  so  moving  as  this  !  No  spectacle  so  grand  in  all  the  history  oi~ 
man. 


HISTORY    OF  THE    GREAT   FLOOD    OF   1884.  fcl 

At  the  headquarters  yesterday  the  same  rattle  and  rumble  of  heavily  laden 
trucks,  and  the  same  hurrying  to  and  fro  greeted  the  beholder  as  did  the  day  be- 
fore. The  room  was  cold  and  cheerless,  owing  to  the  sudden  change  in  the 
weather,  but  the  Burnet  House  sent  a  quantity  of  hot  coffee  to  the  workers 
there,  and,  later  in  the  day,  Mr.  John  Grossius  donated  the  use  of  a  large  fur- 
nace, which,  placed  in  the  center  of  the  room,  soon  sent  out  a  cheerful  and  in- 
vigorating heat.  When  the  committee  met  in  the  morning  Chairman  Urner 
announced  that  some  $60,000  had  been  sent  in  from  points  outside,  and  all  had 
been  expended  in  the  work  of  relief  without  the  city,  and  that  arrangements 
had  been  made  to  send  a  barge  of  coal  to  Lawrenceburg  last  evening. 

GOVERNMENT    RELIEF. 

General  A.  Beckwith,  of  the  United  States  Army,  in  charge  of  the  Govern- 
ment appropriation  for  the  flood  sufferers,  arrived  in  the  city  last  night,  and  is- 
quartered  at  the  Grand  Hotel.  An  Enquirer  reporter  called  on  the  gentleman 
immediately  on  his  arrival,  and  was  cordially  received.  The  General  has  just 
received  the  following  dispatch  from  Secretary  Lincoln  : 

WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  February  14,  1884. 
To  General  Amos  Beckwith,  United  States  Army  .• 

The  following  is  a  statement  of  the  amounts  by  me  authorized  to  be  expended 
by  Mayors  of  cities  on  the  Ohio  River  below  Ironton  :  Greenup,  Ky.,  $500; 
Maysville,  Ky.,  $1,000;  Augusta,  Ky.,  $500;  Newport,  Ky.,  $1,000;  Law- 
renceburg, Ind.,  $2,000;  Madison,  Ind.,  $2,000  ;  Evansville,  Ind.,  $  1,000;  Shaw- 
neetown,  111.,  $2,000  ;  total,  $10,000. 

ROBERT  LINCOLN,  Secretary  of  War. 

General  Beckwith  said: 

"  I  will  start  a  boat  down  the  river  to-morrow  night,  with  120,000  rations- 
aboard,  and  they  will  be  put  where  they  will  do  the  most  good.  On  the  fol- 
lowing day  the  up-river  boat  will  be  started,  and  run  as  far  as  Ironton.  I 
would  have  liked  to  have  got  to  work  sooner,  but  I  was  delayed  twelve  hour* 
on  the  road.  I  will  push  things  now  that  I  have  got  a  start.  There  will  be 
about  $125,000  to  be  distributed  in  and  about  Cincinnati." 

AT    NEWPORT. 

While  the  cold  wave  yesterday  brought  glad  tidings  to  the  people  that  it 
would  check  the  rise  in  the  river,  it  only  added  to  the  suffering.  The  increased 
demand  was  truly  wonderful,  and  it  has  only  partly  commenced,  for  alter  the 
water  subsides,  the  suffering  will  be  greater  than  now,  and  the  committee  are 
in  a  quandary  as  to  how  to  supply  the  demands  that  will  be  made  on  them  for 
fuel.  No  city  or  town  on  the  Ohio  River  has  suffered  as  much  as  Newport  in 
proportion  to  her  population.  Here  is  a  city  with  a  population  of  twenty-five 
thousand  people,  and  eighteen  thousand  of  them  are  homeless,  and  are  crying 
for  aid  to  relieve  them  in  their  distressed  condition.  The  condition  of  property 
in  the  submerged  districts  is  indescribable. 

Brick  houses  have  caved  in  by  their  foundations  being  washed  awav,  while 
frame  cottages  are  twisted  in  every  conceivable  shape.  A  number  of  them 
have  floated  away,  others  have  turned  up  on  their  ends,  and  nearly  every  street 
in  the  flooded  district  is  blockaded  by  a  house  that  has  been  washed  away  from 
its  foundation.  Fencing  and  outhouses  have  been  carried  out,  and  it  is  no 
trouble  to  find  a  fence  in  one  part  of  the  city  that  belongs  half  a  mile  up  in  the 
other  part.  In  the  event  that  the  property  is  repaired,  which  is  doubtful,  it 
will  require  an  army  of  men  to  work  all  sunvner.  and  then  it  is  doubtful  whether 
they  can  repair  the  damages,  which  in  this  city  will  amount  to  nearly  $1,000,000. 

AT    THE    RRMEF    STORK. 

This  place  was  crowded  a^nin  yesterday,  and  the  committee  was  kept  busv 
distributing  provisions  all  day  to  the  vast  crowd  of  suffering  and  hungry  ap- 


HISTbRY    OF   Ttift  'GREAT   FLOOD    OV  't$b.[. 


plicants.  It  is  a  perfect  sight  to  seethe  clamor  for.  food  every  day  that  'is  made. 
Yesterday,  at  this  place,  there  were"'distributed  two  thousand  gallons  of  'coffee, 
twelve  thousand'  loaves  of  bread,  twenty-five  'barrels'  of'  po'.ato'es,  'five  hundred 
pounds  of  meat,  and  one  thousand  gallons^  of  soup,  in  addition  to  the  ve'geta- 
bles1.  The  Relief  Committee'  was  compelled  yesterday  to  place  two  more 
kettles  in  the  building  to  supply  the  demand.  At  the  present  rate  of  consump- 
tion it  will  require  more  fribriev  than  is  'coming  in  'how  to  supply  the  want-for 
food,  to  say  nothing  of  the  coal. 
* 


"  It  is  falling."  How  glad  thev  >voj-ds  .were,  received  as  they  fell  last  night 
:from  the  lips  of  hundreds  of  people.  While  Covingtod  properly  has  not  suf- 
fered to  the  ararming  exterit  of  that  of  'her  sister"  city  of  Newport,  it'  has  been 
sufficient  toqaiise  great  alarm  'among'  the  business  men  of  the  city.  i:"  ;  i 

The  Relief  Committee  have  met  with  tin  precede  nt'ed  sucdess,  and'aVe  recelV-    ' 
inp  a  large  number  of  subscriptions  in  'money  and  'wagon'  Toads  of  provisions 
-and  clothing  from  every  quarter.     They  are  supply  ibg'  about  three  hundred 
.families  in  the  city,  and   aye  fortunate  enough  to    have  plenty  to  do  it  with. 

[From  the  Commercial-Gazette,  February  ie.1 

'  .       ,  .'-..->..  ,;  •     .  .,.-,.,.  .      -          3    J 

FROM    BRjrXJK,  TO    BRIDGE. 

Hard  upon  the  strode  of  noon  yesterday—  St:Valentine!s  Day,'  i884.-^-came 
the  shrill  and  welcome  cry  or  the  newsboys  that  the  mighty  •  flood  stood  still; 
that  it  had  paused  at  the  second  line  of  hills  even,  as,  Aram,  all  conquering, 

.had  halted  only  at  the  sea.  The  sunlight  was  dancing  in  the  cri>p,  clear  air,  the 

•crust  of  the  earth  was  frozen,  and  there  was  every  indiciitiDn;tihal!.;tiye;hu«g!-y 
Onio  was  satiated  at  last.,  Had  the  ruin  -wrought  beetv'.exag^eratedli'  f'.Were 
tliese  tales  of  drowning  cities,  that  came  ori  every  breeze,  partially  »bo!m  of  im- 
aginations excited  by  the  awful  resistlessness,  'of  the  form  -in;  which  disaster 

-came  ?     These  were  pertinent  questions,  and  to  answer  them  intone  direction  > 
at  least,  a  staff  correspondent  underlook-a  trip  through  Newport  ;  a  yoyage.it 
proved.    After  the  latterly  famiHarljoat  ride  from  the  north  'side  of  Peart  Street 
to  the  Cincinnati  end  of  the  Suspension  bridge,  the  struggle  for  a  foothold 
thereon,  and  a  short  walk  through  Covington,  only  whose  rivermost  houses 

-seem  to  be  under  Water,  a  skiff  afnd  an  expert  "oarsman-'  were  secured.  The 
boatman  was  such  as  are  providentially  plentiful  among  Newpoft  Borri  men; 
the  sisters  of  'many  -of;  whom  could  row  in  a  way  to  shame  the  aVera»e  bungler 
in  the  daily  dangerous  scrambte  on  Vine  and  Walnut  Streets.  He  knew  every 
inch  ol  the  venerable  old  town,  which  stood  where  it  now  lies  sabrtferged  be- 
fore the  first'-settlef  had  set  foot  in  Cincinnati.  "The  'route  taken-*—  it'  being  re- 
membered that  it  ran  "between  rows  of  dwellings  or  Httle-'  stores,  some  vvhollj' 
tinder  water  and  flouting  from  their  foundations;'  some  tehantless.  because  the 
-flood  level  had  reached  the  second  storN'.  and  /others  'occupied  only  tip  stairs- 
will  perhaps  give  a  better  idea  of  the  extent  of  the  calamity*  ttian  COtild  any  map 
-or.  illustration.  The.  writer  was  rowed  from  the  end  'of  the  &ridg&  over  the 
swollen  Licking,  to  Bel  levue  -Street;  thence  on  BeJlevue  Street  to'lsabella  Street, 
and  then  southward  on  -Isabella  six  or  s-evemsquares,.  to  RtnggoW  Street.  At 
the  head  of  Isabel  la'  Street  dry  land  could  be'seen,-  but-  so  could  -also  the  open 
commons  beyond  the  city's  limits.>-  j'A  look  eastward  on'  Rin'ggold  showed  tliat 
Central  Avenue,  parallel  with  Isabella,  could  not  be  rowed  'into,  but  Westward, 
clear  to  the  Licking,  there  was.deep  and  unbroken  writer;  arid  so  it  had  been  on 
every  ci^ossing  of  a  street  running  ;eastf  and  west,  wWle  eastward  as  well,  on 
those.  between  Ringgold  and  the  river,  the  flood  stretched  ftirtlieV  an'ff  further, 
until  on  Taylor  navigable  water  cpuld.,be,  seen  clear  to  the  Methodist  Church, 
"which  is  just  west  of  the  Louisville  &  fcashville  bridge.  Returning  down  Isabel- 
la, it  was  therefore  'easy  to  tak'e  the'  first  ct<Jsg  street^  arid  rawing  east-on*>h)o<-k, 
ing  into  Centraf  A'i'enuft.  &6ing'then  northward 


M1STOKY    OF    THE    GREAT    FLOOD    OF    1-8^4.  '.M& 

crossing  showed  the.  same  uniform  vista  of  water  each  way,  mounting  to  a  sur- 
prisingly uniform  height  upon  the  houses,  seldom  being  lower  than  the  top. of 
the  door  of  the  first  story,  often  entering  the  secondhand  frequently  covering, 
all  but  the  top  ridge  of  the  roof,  according  to,the  nature  of  the  structures  them- 
selves. When  Taylor  Street  was  reached  a  westward  course — toward  the  Lick- 
ing— was  taken  for  two  blocks,  and  the  rear  gate  of  the  Barracks  entered.  The 
trip  over  the  old  parade  grounds,  the  scene  of  so  many  memorable  and  brilliant 
gatherings,  social  and  military,  was  made  on  at  least  ten  feet  ot  water,  the  flood 
being  over  the  porches  of  the  barracks  proper,  up  to  the  middle  of  the  first  story 
of  the  officers'  quarters,  half  over  the  guard-house,  and  high  up,  playing  at  wul. 
in  the  rooms  under  the  historic  ball-room,  while  the  melancholy-looking  hospital 
at  the  convergence  of  the  two  rfvers,  stood  ghost  like  against  the  back  ground  ot 
blue  sky  and  yellow  waste  ot  waters.  Leaving  the  Barracks,  over  the  fence  ot  the 
Commandant's  quarters,  and  keeping  well  over  the  sidewalk  of  Front  Street, 
to  avoid  the  fierce  current,  the  journey  was  resumed  eastward,  or  up  the  river,, 
on  a  level  with  the  second  storv  windows  of  the  residences  of  the  best-to-do 
people  of  Newport.  Without  exception,  the  latter  were  cut  oft"  of  communica- 
tion to  their  lower  stories,  and  some  few  had  been  driven  out  altogether,  or  up- 
to  the  third  floor.  A  call  -was  made  upon  one  of  these  families.  Invited  to 
enter,  it  was  easy  to  step  from  the  light  skiff  into  the  window  of  the  front  bed- 
room, improvised,  in  the  earlier  stages  of  the  flood,  into  a  parlor,  but — with  tin- 
water  only  five  inches  from  the  rafters  forming  the  floor — now  a  .scene  of  par- 
tial preparation  for  final  flight.  ,The  rooms — the  house  in  this  case  wan  b;ick 
— w«re  all  warm  and  comfortable,  and  without  even  a  suggestion  of  dampiu  ss._ 
A  rear  bed-room  was  improvised  into  a  dining-roorn,  a  bath  room  lormed  a 
kitchen,  and  a  side  porch  an  ample  store-room  and  coal-house.  An  old  Dutch 
clock,  which  had  been  carried  up  stairs,  was  pointed  out  as  having  been  through 
the  floods  of  1847  and  1883,  and  now  through  the  flood  ot  floods,  the  climateric 
one  of  1884.  The  journey  resumed,  the  skiff  was  headed  southward,  up  York 
Street.  The  doorway  of  "Barlow's."  a  once  famous  inn,  corner  of  York  and 
Front,  on  whose  sides  painted  tin  sjips  used  to  indicate  the  flood  mark  of 
1832  and  1847,  were  far  under  water.  Turning  out  of  York,  and  goin ^  east- 
wardlvon  Eglantine,  Monmouth  was  reached,  and  at  Monmouth  and  Tavlor 
the  water  ceased  to  be  disastrously  deep,  though  the  skift"  was  easily  rowed  up 
Tavlor  to  the  Methodist  Church,  or  within  a  hundred  feet  of  the  Newport  end 
of  the  Louisvile  &  Nashville  bridge. 

The  above  outline  of  an  hour's  voyage  through  Newport  is  given  with  a 
view  to  give  the  reader,  if  possible,  a  realizing  sense  of  the  extent  of  the  flood 
in  this  one  town,  with  reference  only  to  the  vast  area,  all  covered  with  habita- 
tions—for even  the  few  stores  have  residences  above  them — which  has  been  in- 
undated. The  sights  and  incidents  of  such  a  trip  would  cover  columns.  Re- 
lief boats,  flving  the  white  flag  of  the  different  associations  at  their  bows,  were 
met  constantly.  Overturned  houses  and  cottages  floating  from  their  founda- 
tions were  common  sights1 — in  one  place  a  whole  row  of  one-story  dwellings, 
floating  in  a  confused  heap.  Hundreds  of  out-buildings,  of  almost  uniform 
architectural  structure,  anchored  singly  or  in  groups,  floated  on  every  side, 
scarcely  one  being  right  side  up,  their  number  being  surprising — even  appalling^ 
especially  so  when  we  consider  that  20,000  people  are  homeless.  A  frame  to- 
bacco warehouse  in  the  rear  of  the  Barracks  had  floated  from  a  post  founda- 
tion to  an  adjoining  lot.  The  late  Billy  Ringo's  orphaned  heirs  peered  from  the 
windows  of  his  old  homestead,  as  if  wondering  if  the  desolate  scene  around  had 
not  some  mysterious  connection  with  the  departure  of  their  benefactor.  A  hun- 
dred lanterns,  removed  from  public  lamp-posts,  and  stored  upon  a  raft  in  front  of 
the  citv,  bore  the  names  of  the  flooded  thoroughfares,  as  if  they  were  monu- 
ments "erected  to  the  memory  of  departed  streets.  Skiffs  bearing  ladies  could 
be  seen  entering  the  hall  doors  of  well  known  residences  on  side  streets  ;»  >| 
the  compliments  of  the  day  were  passed  with  secerning  cheerfulness.  Of  l..e 


94  HISTORY    OF   THE    GREAT   FLOOD    OF    1884. 

hundreds  of  faces  seen  at  upper  windows,  some  were  sad,  with  the  fixedness 
of  cruel  disappointment,  if  not  of  despair.  Others  were  bright,  and  their  own- 
ers exchanged  chaff  with  the  small  portion  of  the  occupants  of  boats  who 
seemed  bent  on  sight-seeing  and  pleasure.  Most  of  those  in  scows  and  skiffs 
were  serious  enough,  and  once  at  a  corner  the  Commercial  Gazette  craft 
passed  one  containing  black-robed  priests,  whose  demeanor  indicated  that  they 
were  taking  the  consolation  of  religion  to  the  «ick  or  dying. 

[Commercial-Gazette,  ijth.] 

At  noon  yesterday  the  river  at  Cincinnati  reached  the  highest  mark  that 
it  is  known  ever  to  have  attained  in  this  part  of  the  Ohio  Valley,  and  then  re- 
mained apparently  stationary  for  two  hours,  at  severity-one  feet  and  three- 
quarters  of  an  inch.  The  flood  had  then  reached  its  limit  for  the  present,  and 
began  slowly  to  fall,  so  slowly  that  it  took  four  hours  to  move  a  quarter  of  an 
inch  down  the  gauge.  This  check  to  the  progress  of  the  flood  is  due  to  the 
sudden  and  considerable  fall  of  temperature  within  the  past  twenty-four  hours 
and  the  prevailing  cold. 

The  reports  of  destitution  and  suffering  throughout  the  Valley  are  distress- 
ingly numerous,  and  the  flood  has  not  yet  completed  its  work.  Telegraphic 
news  is  grapic  in  in  its  accounts  of  the  situation  at  the  various  points  to  which 
access  can  as  yet  be  had. 

[Enquirer,  I3th.] 
THE    MILLCREEK    VALI,EY. 

A  canal  boat  was  chartered  yesterday,  and  on  short  notice  an  excursion  to 
Cunimmsville  and  return  was  tendered  those  desiring  to  view  the  inundated 
Millcreek  Valley.  The  boat  left  Canal  and  Vine  Streets  at  half-past  two  o'clock, 
with  quite  a  large  number  of  curiosity  seekers  on  board.  The  accommoda- 
tions were  not  of  the  best  order,  but  Oriental  rugs  and  upholstered  furniture 
were  not  expected  on  a  canal  boat,  and  the  jolly  party  made  things  merry 
throughout  the  trip.  The  excursionists  were  made  up  principally  from  the 
merchants  on  'Change,  which  was  about  the  only  place  the  voyage  was  adver- 
t  sed,  and  as  the  big,  clumsy  vessel  moved  from  street  to  street  through  the 
city  proper,  the  crowd  was  increased  by  stray  passengers  dropping  aboard  from 
the  bridges  as  the  boat  passed  under.  A  fare  of  fifty  cents  for  the  round  trip 
was  collected  from  each  passenger,  and  as  the  proceeds  go  toward  relieving  the 
flood  sufferers,  the  charge  was  paid  with  pleasure.  It  required  an  hour  and  .a 
half  to  make  the  trip  from  Vine  and  Canal  to  Cumminsville,  including  several 
stoppages,  but  as  the  backwaters  in  many  portions  of  the  Millcreek  Valley 
were  visible  from  the  boat,  the  hours  passed  swiftly  by,  and  barring  the  return, 
which  was  somewhat  tedious  through  the  darkness,  the  trip  was  hugely  enjoyed. 
The  valley  between  Brighton  and  Fairmont  was  plainly  seen,  with  all  its  deso- 
late surroundings.  As  the  boat  moved  out  further  from  the  city  the  submerged 
portions  of  Colerain  and  Spring  Grove  Avenues  became  visible.  The  former 
is  covered  with  water  in  a  number  of  places  where  the  bed  of  the  street  lies  low, 
while  a  greater  portion  of  Spring  Grove  Avenue  seemed  to  be  submerged. 
The  roadbed  of  the  Cincinnati,  Washington  &  Baltimore  Railroad,  between 
the  Stock  Yards  and  the  Spring  Grove  Avenue  bridge,  will  be  lost  from  sight 
by  the  rise  of  another  foot,  and  most  probably  is  not  visible  this  morning. 
But  the  greatest  picture  of  desolation  and  ruin  was  presented  as  the  boat  ap- 
proached Cumminsville.  The  buildings  in  the  extreme  lower  portion  of  Cum- 
minsville are  entirely  submerged,  and  the  groups  of  houses  whose  roofs  only 
are  visible  are  sufficiently  numerous  to  constitute  a  village  of  itself.  Crowds  of 
people  flock  to  the  water's  edge,  those  from  Camp  Washington  on  the  one  side 
and  from  the  elevated  portions  of  Cumminsville  on  the  other ;  but  all  are 
stopped  by  the  furious  waters  of  Millcreek,  and.  in  some  portions,  spectators 
are  even  compelled  to  retreat  by  the  constant  swelling  of  the  stream. 


HISTORY    OF   THE    GREAT    FLOOD    OF    1884.  95 

An  excellent  view  of  the  eastern  portion  of  the  submerged  portion  of  the 
town  was  afforded  from  the  canal ;  but  this  locality  being  sparsely  settled  in 
comparison  with  the  lower  part  of  the  town,  there  were  fewer  scenes  of  desti- 
tution. 

Cumminsville  is  now  completely  shut  off  from  communication  with  the  city 
by  land.  The  residents  being  mostly  engaged  in  business  in  the  city,  either  re- 
main here  or  reach  their  homes  by  the  Elm  Street  line  of  street  cars  to  Burnet 
Woods,  followed  by  a  half-mile  walk  through  Clifton,  or  a  boat  ride  over  the 
inundated  streets  to  the  Cincinnati,  Hamilton  &  Dayton  Railroad  track. 
There  is  no  way  of  reaching  Cumminsville  by  avoiding  a  boat  ride,  unless  by  a 
walk  to  Winton  Place,  where  there  is  a  high  and  dry  crossing. 

Dayton  and  Bellevue,  Ky.,  came  in  for  their  full  share  of 
misery,  destruction  and  misfortune.  Both  towns  were  sub- 
merged completely.  There  were  hopes  entertained  that  at 
least  a  part  of  the  towns  would  be  spared,  but  all  who  enter- 
tained them  were  doomed  to  disappointment.  Nothing  was 
to  be  seen  but  the  hurrying  to  and  fro  and  the  cries  of  the 
distressed  as  they  betook  themselves  to  higher  quarters.  The 
-same  old  story  of  houses  being  lifted  from  their  foundations 
and  carried  away,  people  driven  from  their  homes  or  into  the 
upper  stories  and  attics  of  their  buildings,  and  huddled  to- 
gether in  such  numbers  as  to  make  life  almost  a  burden, 
were  met  here  as  elsewhere.  The  loss  in  Dayton  is  not  less 
than  $100,000.  Everything  seemed  desperate.  The  people 
appeared  to  yield  to  their  fate  with  a  kind  of  resigned  despair. 
It  seems  almost  like  a  dream  now,  but  the  i/fth  of  February, 
1884,  witnessed  perhaps  more  distress  and  privation  at  Cin- 
cinnati and  in  the  towns  in  the  vicinity  than  any  locality  in 
the  United  States  ever  experienced  in  its  history  before,  and 
when  we  consider  that  it  was  the  same  and,  in  scores  of  in- 
stances, far  worse,  for  a  distance  of  nearly  one  thousand 
miles,  we  see  how  inadequate  are  words  to  describe  and  how 
the  mind  fails  even  to  comprehend  the  heighth  and  depth  of  it. 

We  will  now  leave  Cincinnati  and  glance  at  what  the  great 
waters  are  doing  for  the  towns  and  cities  below.  The  first 
town  below  Cincinnati  of  importance  is  Lawrenceburg,  a 
town  of  near  4,000  inhabitants,  separated  from  Ohio  only  by 
the  Miami  River  that  has  also  been  taking  a  leading  part  in 
this  great  drama  of  destruction.  Of  all  the  towns  in  the 
Ohio  Valley,  Lawrenceburg  seems  to  have  been  most  ill- 
fated  and  most  helpless  from  her  situation  and  surroundings. 
The  Big  Miami  broke  through  the  levees  built  at  great  ex- 
pense, and  poured  a  deep  and  rapid  stream  through  her  very 
streets,  so  swift  and  irresistible  as  to  almost  make  the  getting 
about  in  boats  and  skiffs  impracticable.  Hundreds  of  houses 
were  toppled  over  and  swept  away  lightly  upon  the  tide,  as 


06  HISTORY    OF    THE    GREAT   FLOOD    OF    1884. 

though  made  -expressly  to  float  swiftly  and  buoyantly  as 
transports  of  peace  and  prosperity.  Large  substantial  struc- 
tures, that  looked  as  though  built  for  all  enduring  time,  were 
undermined  and  burst,  sometimes  falling  in  and  sometimes 
falling  out,  endangering  everything  within  reach.  Each 
hour,  moment  you  might  say,  added  a  new  feature  of  destruc- 
tion and  dismay.  For  ten  days,  without  cessation,  the 
mad  work  of  the  deluge  went  on,  many  of  the  people  cling- 
ing to  their  property  up  to  the  last  moment,  only  to  see  it 
swept  away  or  crumbled  into  piles  of  wreck  and  rubbish. 
Fed  only  by  the  charitable  hand  of  the  outside  world, 
twenty-seven  hundred  and  eighty-four  people — a  thousand  or 
more  had  fled,  abandoning  everything — cooped  up  in  the 
narrowest  of  quarters,  and  fed  through  the  windows  of  the 
top-most  stories  with  rations  as  though  they  were  in  hospitals, 
out  of  fuel,  out  of  clothing,  many  women  with  infants  in 
their  arms,  and  up  to  the  knees  in  water,  watching  long,  dark 
and  wearisome  nights  through,  afraid  to  close  their  eyes  in 
slumber  even  were  it  practicable  for  them  to  do  so,  for  fear 
of  crashing  buildings  and  falling  walls.  No  one  can  think 
of  their  direful  situation  without  a  chill  of  horror.  Mrs. 
Utz,  an  invalid  old  lady,  was  taken  trom  the  upper  windows 
of  her  insecure  home,  and  bound  to  her  bed,  and  taken  over 
the  heaving  waters  in  a  skiff  to  Newtown,  where  hundreds 
of  others  had  gone  for  safety.  The  groans  of  the  almost 
dying  woman,  as  she  was  carried  on  her  bed  through  the  crowd 
to  the  landing,  caused  many  an  eye  to  moisten,  and  presented 
another  phase  of  the  terrible  calamity  that  had  smitten  the 
town.  Amidst  all  this  could  be  heard  the  crashing  of  the 
timbers  every  now  and  then,  first  upon  this  side,  and  then 
upon  that,  of  some  factory  or  mill  upon  which  hundreds  de- 
pended for  a  living — saw-mills,  with  hundreds  of  thousands  of 
feet  of  lumber,  pushing  out  in  the  endless  chain  of  wreck — 
furniture  factories — coffin  factories — all  sorts  of  industries 
that  maintain  the  people  of  the  place.  The  loss  to  property 
here  is  estimated  at  $500,000.  There  is  no  such  thing  as  de- 
scribing it.  It  was  simply  awful. 

The  town  of  Lawrenceburg  has  had  a  long  and  terrible 
experience  of  floods.  The  following,  from  the  Palladium, 
of  that  town,  of  February  27,  1832,  shows  vividly  the  state 
of  the  case  then  : 

''The  height  of  the  water  at  this  place  over  the  great  flood  of  1815  was  five 
feet  nine  inches,  and  over  that  of  1825  about  eight  feet.  High  Street,  the  most 
elevated  part  of  the  old  town,  was  covered  from  four  to  six  feet  its  whole 


HISTORY    OF    THE    GREAT   FLOOD    OF    1884.  97 

extent.  On  some  of  the  cross  streets  the  water  was  still  deeper,  and  the  inhab- 
itants compelled  to  seek  refuge  elsewhere.  The  injury  done  to  buildings  was 
trifling — not  a  single  building  was  carried  off  entirely.  The  principal  los>s  is  in 
fences,  corn  and  hay." 

Bad  as  seemed  the  situation  here,  it  was  almost  duplicated 
at  nearly  every  town  on  both  sides  of  the  river,  on  down  be- 
low. Whenever  the  highest  marks  were  touched,  no  matter 
what  preparation  had  been  made  to  receive  the  flood,  it 
seemed  like  labor  lost.  Houses  weighted  down  with  rocks 
on  the  roof  would  become  top  heavy  and  fall  over  whenever 
they  began  to  float ;  tied  with  cables  they  were  snapped  as 
though  they  were  rotten.  Bridges,  weighted  down  with 
rocks,  would  become  undermined  on  one  side  or  the 
other  oftentimes,  and  the  rocks  only  assisted  in  their  de- 
struction. Merchants  would  store  their  stocks  in  the  upper 
stories,  and  in  many  instances  pile  them  on  the  very  house 
tops,  and  covering  them  with  tarpaulins  or  boards,  and 
weighting  these  down  with  rocks,  would  feel  that  they  had 
made  all  safe,  when  a  wall  would  fall,  or  some  part  of  the 
building  give  way,  and  the  work  of  many  hands  for  many 
days  be  undone  in  a  moment. 

The  entire  town  of  Hardintown,  near  the  Lawrenceburg 
Junction,  two  miles  from  Lawrenceburg,  was  inundated  and 
the  entire  population  driven  from  their  homes.  Nearly  all 
the  inhabitants  gathered  on  the  hillsides,  and  quartered  with 
neighboring  farmers.  A  little  church  called  Bellview,in  the 
neighborhood,  had  a  big  congregation  continuously.  Nearly 
fifty  families  made  it  their  home.  From  Hardintown  to  Val- 
ley Junction,  a  distance  of  eight  miles,  all  the  land  between 
was  covered  by  from  twenty  to  thirty  feet  of  water. 

At  Aurora,  Ind.,  the  situation  was  not  much  of  an  im- 
provement on  Lawrenceburg.  All  west  of  it  was  a  dead  sea 
of  water.  The  water  on  the  Ohio  &  Mississippi  track,  back 
of  town,  was  more  than  two  and  one-half  feet  deep,  cutting 
the  town  off  from  all  connection  with  other  places.  Here, 
as  in  Lawrenceburg,  houses  were  tumbled  in  promiscuous 
ruin.  The  loss  to  the  town  is  estimated  at  near  a  quarter 
of  a  million  dollars.  The  distilleries  come  in  for  a  large 
share  of  loss.  The  water  was  all  over  the  town  ;  the  banks, 
postoffice — every  business — had  to  be  conducted,  if  conducted 
at  all,  in  the  upper  stories.  There  was  little  business,  how- 
ever, except  that  of  panic-stricken  citizens  fleeing  to  Sutton'* 
Hill.  After  the  water  got  over  the  marks  of  last  year,  the  p- 
pie  began  to  think  it  never  would  stop.  If  they  had  been  to 


98  HISTORY    OF    THE    GREAT   FLOOD    OF   1884. 

that  it  would  go  over  the  steeples  of  the  churches  they  would 
have  believed  it.  They  were  thoroughly  alarmed.  When  a 
town  or  city  finds  itself  in  such  a  situation  as  not  to  be  able 
to  take  care  of  itself,  and  compelled  to  depend  on  outside  as- 
sistance for  the  very  commonest  necessaries  of  life,  then, 
surely,  if  at  no  other  time,  it  is  both  right  and  proper  that  they 
should  become  alarmed.  It  is  a  time  to  struggle  for  life,  and 
let  property  take  care  of  itself.  It  was  so  in  Aurora.  The 
situation  was  touching  and  pathetic. 

Rising  Sun  was  one  of  the  "high  and  dry"  towns.  It 
was  the  incentive  to  much  pride  and  congratulation  during 
the  flood.  All  the  country  between  the  town  and  Arnold's 
Creek  Bridge,  however,  was  a  flooded  district.  Not  more 
than  twenty-five  or  thirty  houses  in  the  town  got  into  water, 
and  they  in  the  lower  part  of  the  city.  Patriot,  Ind.,  was 
submerged,  and  suffered  greatly.  Warsaw,  Ky.,  was  pretty 
well  baptized,  but  got  along  very  well.  Nearly  the  whole 
town  of  Florence,  Ind.,  was  submerged,  and  some  of  it  very 
deep.  Nearly  all  the  surrounding  country  was  flooded,  and 
it  was  found  necessary  to  send  much  aid  there. 

Markland,  Ind.,  was  pretty  well  inundated,  but  took  ex- 
treme precautionary  measures  and  thereby  reduced  her 
losses  very  materially.  The  country  back  is  rich  and  pros- 
perous, and  any  who  were  in  distress  were  well  provided 
for.  Between  this  place  and  Vevay  hundreds  of  houses 
were  under  water,  and  there  was  a  great  deal  of  suffering. 
Most  of  those  living  on  the  hillsides  were  in  miserable  hovels 
that  were  washed  down  and  into  the  river,  the  occupants 
fleeing  to  the  hills  or  anywhere  they  could  find  shelter.  Some 
families  were  seen  living  under  sheds  that  had  nothing  but  a 
roof,  and  almost  nothing  to  preserve  the  lives  of  the  family. 

Vevay  sets  back  from  the  river  and  on  quite  an  elevation ; 
still  a  good  portion  of  the  city  got  her  foot  into  it.  Lots  of 
the  inferior  houses,  in  what  is  known  as  Slabtown,  were 
washed  away.  All  the  way  from  Vevay  to  Madison  there 
was  the  same  picture  of  desolation.  Opposite  Madison,  at 
Milton,  a  town  of  350  people,  all  were  flooded,  and  the  whole 
surrounding  country  was  a  desolate  looking  waste  of  muddy, 
angry  looking  water.  Perhaps  there  was  no  place  more  so 
between  Madison  and  Lawrenceburg. 

At  Madison,  near  three  thousand  people  were  houseless  and 
destitute.  The  river  got  two  and  one-half  feet  higher  than  in 
1883,  but  by  the  time  the  greatest  height  of  water  reached  there, 
which  was  on  the  i6th,  the  charities  of  the  country  were 


HISTORY    OF   THE    GREAT   FLOOD    OF   1884.  99 

in  such  a  well  organized  condition  as  to  send  immediate  re- 
lief, all  that  was  needed,  and  while  suffering  considerably  in 
loss  and  damage  to  property,  fared  excellently  compared 
with  many  other  towns.  The  water  was  a  foot  deep  on  the 
second  floor  of  the  Western  Hotel,  and  the  backwater  ex- 
tended around  on  the  north  side  of  the  city  on  West  Street, 
inundating  Springdale  Cemetery,  and  the  lowlands  for  sev- 
eral miles  below.  Seven  houses  were  washed  out  of  East 
End  and  also  out  of  Milton,  opposite.  Business  of  all  kinds 
was  suspended  in  the  face  of  the  overwhelming  disaster. 

Passing  by  the  scores  of  towns,  villages,  landings  and  pri- 
vate property  on  the  river  banks  of  Indiana  and  Kentucky, 
and  almost  numberless  happy  little  farm  homes  that  lie  be- 
tween, that  were  savagely  and  mercilessly  dealt  with  by  the 
foaming  torrent,  we  will  tarry  awhile  at  Jeffersonville,  Louis- 
ville and  New  Albany,  all  adjacent  to  each  other,  and  all  suf- 
ferers by  the  flood. 

At  Louisville  the  river  rose  to  the  great  height  of  forty-six 
feet  and  eight  inches,  reaching  those  marks  on  the  evening 
of  the  I5th  of  February,  and  there  hanging  until  n  a.  m.  on 
the  i6th.  This  was  in  the  canal.  In  the  channel  at  the  foot 
of  the  falls  it  reached  seventy-one  feet,  or  one  foot  above  the 
flood  of  1883.  The  whole  of  the  north  bank  of  the  canal 
was  under  water  for  the  first  time  since  its  construction,  the 
United  States  Engineer  having  elevated  it  some  three  feet 
above  the  great  flood  of  1832.  The  water  went,  on  the  i5th, 
four  feet  above  that  flood.  As  the  waters  went  down  the  cry 
of  suffering  went  up.  It  is  no  exaggeration  to  say  that  from 
Louisville  to  Utica,  several  miles  above,  as  far  as  the  eye 
could  reach,  there  was  nothing  to  be  seen  between  the  hills 
but  inundated  farms  and  tenantless  houses,  with  their  chim- 
neys and  roofs  occasionally  peeping  above  the  water.  Turned 
over  on  their  sides  were  dwellings,  barns  and  outhouses, 
many  of  them  tumbled  down  banks  or  lodged  against  steep 
hillsides  in  the  most  ridiculous  and  grotesque  positions. 
Sometimes  one  would  be  settled  in  some  thicket,  where 
the  topmost  branches  of  the  surrounding  trees  had  de- 
tained it  until  the  water  went  down,  when,  settling,  it  had 
mashed  down  the  trees  and  spread  them  out,  and  was  finally 
sustained  eight  or  ten  feet  above  the  ground,  as  though  it 
had  been  erected  on  stilts.  On  the  bank,  a  few  miles  above 
Louisville,  a  correspondent  describes  a  house  lying  (half  re- 
clining, we  would  say)  against  the  bank,  with  windows  and 
doors  out,  chimney  gone,  and  presenting  as  open  and  sad  a 


100  HISTORY    OF   THE    GREAT   FLOOD    OF   1884. 

countenance  as  a  good  house  ought  to,  while  up  over  the  door 
was  a  lamp-black  sign,  that  had  stood  the  wear  and  tear  of 
the  flood,  on  which  were  the  words:  "For  Rent — Inquire 
Within."  It  was  not  worth  while  at  this  particular  juncture, 
for  not  even  a  rat  or  hooting-owl  would  have  taken  up  its 
habitation  in  so  lonesome  looking  a  shanty.  Many  nice,, 
white-painted  cottages,  with  green  blinds,  and  four  or  five 
rooms  in  them,  all  presenting  an  air  of  thrift  and  independ- 
ence, have  stopped  in  fields  far  from  the  river  banks,  and,  in 
some  cases,  wandered  up  little  bayous  and  dropped  down  in 
the  most  inaccessible  places  for  even  tearing  them  to  pieces 
and  hauling  them  away.  Up  these  creeks,  and  away  off  ten 
and  twelve  miles,  were  some  of  the  extremest  cases  of  suffer- 
ing found.  In  Bullitt  County,  near  Pitt's  Point,  a  family 
named  Wilkinson  lived  for  six  days  on  three  bushels  of 
corn,  which  they  ate  raw.  Being  cut  off  from  all  com- 
munication, they  were  found  by  accident,  and  removed  to 
high  ground,  and  properly  cared  for.  Such  cases  all  along 
the  Valley  were  so  frequent  it  became  a  part  of  the  task  of 
the  relief  boats  and  companies  to  look  for  them. 

The  situation  at  Louisville  was  getting  very  critical  as  early 
as  on  the  nth.  Citizens  living  in  the  southeastern  portion  of 
the  city  were  very  much  excited  through  fear  of  being  driven 
from  their  homes.  Beargrass  Creek  was  rolling  out  its  head- 
waters in  tremendous  volume,  which  almost  reached  the 
bridge  across  it  on  the  east  end  of  Broadway,  and  threaten- 
ing to  flood  that  street  and  cause  great  loss.  The  I2th  found 
East  Broadway  submerged.  Trains  to  Cincinnati  on  the 
Short  Line  were  withdrawn.  Trains  to  Jefivrsonville  and 
New  Albany  had  ceased.  Telegrams  from  above  regarding 
Kentucky  River  caused  fear  and  anxiety  in  every  counten- 
ance. Several  houses  were  tumbling  down  in  the  submerged 
district.  Hundreds  more  were  in  great  jeopardy.  The  canal 
and  its  approaches  at  the  upper  end  was  nothing  but  a  sea  of 
muddy  water.  Five  thousand  people  were  homeless  by  the 
I4th,  and  another  house  going  over  somewhere  almost  with 
every  wave  or  inch  of  rise.  Everywhere  a  waste  of  water 
prevailed.  Below  West  Point  the  bottoms  were  flooded  miles 
wide.  At  Rock  Haven,  Ky.,  the  houses  were  all  destroyed, 
and  the  village  entirely  deserted.  The  famous  "Kidner" 
cedar  farm  was  overflowed,  and  the  cement  mill,  employing 
fifty  hands,  flooded.  Brandenburg,  where  John  Morgan 
crossed  the  Ohio  in  his  famous  raid,  was  "  high  and  dry.' r 
Enterprise  had  only  five  houses  left,  and  300  people — the  en- 


HISTORY    OF   THE    GREAT    FLOOD    OF    1884.  101 

tire  population  of  the  village — were  living  in  them.  At  New 
Amsterdam,  out  of  a  population  of  250,  150  had  been  routed 
from  homes.  At  Leavenworth,  Ind.,  1,000  inhabitants,  the 
water  had  covered  the  entire  site  of  the  town,  and  600  peo- 
ple had  been  driven  out.  Scarcely  a  frame  house  was  rest- 
ing on  its  foundation.  Is  it  any  wonder,  then,  that  the  Louis- 
ville citizen,  looking  towards  Pittsburgh,  and  towards  Cairo, 
and  with  the  swelling  tide  all  about  him,  should  pale  with 
fear  ? 

At  Jeffersonville  the  situation  was  awful.  The  bent-wood 
works  were  damaged  many  thousands  ;  the  glass  works,  fur- 
naces and  ovens  were  ruined.  Four  hundred  men  were  at 
work  on  the  streets  fighting  for  the  property  of  the  town 
against  the  mighty  tide.  Every  street  and  alley  was  covered 
with  water.  Shops,  shipyards  and  other  industries  sub- 
merged, and  nothing  but  flood  and  anxious,  despairing  souls 
to  be  seen.  Near  Clarksville  a  house  was  caught  floating  in 
a  slough,  that  contained  a  family  of  four  persons,  all  dead. 
At  this  point  it  was  the  Cumberland  River  that  was  doing  the 
mischief.  From  the  headwaters  down  it  was  overflowing  the 
whole  country  on  both  sides,  driving  hundreds  of  families 
from  the  depressions,  many  having  to  leave  their  homes  in 
canoes.  Great  distress  existed  below  Clarksville,  where  the 
raging  waters  of  the  Cumberland  were  backed  by  the  Ohio. 
Clarksville  itself  was  drowned  out  completely.  The  same 
was  true  with  the  Tennessee  River.  The  waters  of  every 
stream  had  become  relentless  and  irresistible.  We  speak 
above  of  400  men  being  at  work  on  the  streets.  This  was  all 
shortly  after  abandoned.  The  flooding  waters  entered  first 
from  the  rear  of  the  town,  and  left  none  unvisited. 

New  Albany  was  quite  as  bad  off.  The  river  came  to  a 
•stand  here  at  9  o'clock  on  the  night  of  the  I5th — twenty-three 
inches  higher  than  in  1883,  with  seventy-three  feet  in  the 
channel.  There  was  no  end  to  damage,  wreck  and  ruin. 
A  citizen  could  not  stand  and  look  in  any  direction  without  it 
-stared  him  in  the  face.  The  whole  river  bottoms  for  ten  miles 
below  were  the  same  as  if  swept  with  a  prairie  fire  of  houses, 
barns,  fences  and  outbuildings.  The  water  stands  five  feet 
<leep  in  the  L.,  N.  A.  &  C.  Depot,  and  trains  have  to  leave 
from  East  Fourth  Street.  The  water  is  three  feet  over  West 
Springs  Street,  in  places.  It  reaches  Oak  Street,  on  State, 
Pearl,  Bank,  and  East  Third  Streets.  The  backwater  and 
Silver  Creek  united  over  Vincennes  Street,  making  an  island 
of  the  city.  A  three-story  brick,  Penn  Block,  on  North 


102  HISTORY    OF   THE    GREAT   FLOOD    OF    1884. 

State  Street,  was  undermined,  and  came  down  in  fearful 
wreck,  and  twenty  other  houses  floated  off  their  foundations. 
Every  cross  stream  was  full  of  wreck  and  debris  of  the  flood. 
Probably  800  houses  were  in  the  water  ;  many  of  the  families 
inhabiting  them  were  now  in  the  Court  House,  City  Hall, 
and  in  box  cars  of  the  railroad.  The  loss  here  is  estimated 
at  between  $200,000  and  $300,000.  On  Tuesday  night,  the 
i pth,  a  terrible  storm  swept  over  this  section,  doing  nearly  as- 
much  damage  as  was  done  by  the  flood.  In  the  cities  the 
damage  from  the  storm  was  confined  to  the  flooded  districts, 
but  in  all  the  country  round  the  farmers  met  with  terrible 
losses,  even  where  they  had  not  been  flooded. 

At  Rockport,  Ind.,  some  distance  below,  a  party  returning 
from  the  wedding  of  Ira  Zenor,  on  a  ferry  boat,  nine  men 
and  three  women  in  all,  were  struck  by  the  same  storm,  and 
blown  back  among  thick  timber,  where  they  all  managed  to- 
get  hold  on  an  easy  tree  to  climb,  and  got  up  among  the 
branches,  holding  on  for  dear  life.  The  ferry  boat  went  to- 
the  bottom,  with  everything  on  board,  including  a  hack  and 
span  of  fine  horses.  Mr.  John  Landon  and  his  son,  Wash- 
ington, hearing  their  cries,  went  to  their  assistance,  in  great 
peril  to  their  own  lives,  and  succeeded  in  getting  the  party,, 
cold  and  benumbed,  to  places  of  safety. 

In  Louisville  and  Jeflersonville  a  great  number  of  houses 
were  demolished  by  the  wind,  but  they  were  almost  altogether 
those  that  were  in  a  weak  condition  by  the  flood.  The  wind 
blew  with  a  velocity  of  sixty  miles  an  hour.  The  losses  are 
almost  incalculable. 

We  will  pass  on,  however,  through  this  gauntlet  of  destruc- 
tion, to  Evansville.  In  the  beginning  of  the  flood  Evansville 
was  a  place  of  refuge  for  many  towns  situated  on  a  lower 
level,  for  twenty  miles,  both  above  and  below,  and  between 
thirty  and  forty  families  were  brought  there  from  towns  al- 
ready submerged.  A  Relief  Committee  was  organized  right 
in  the  start,  and  taking  a  boat,  went  to  other  points  where 
they  were  in  distress,  and  brought  them  to  Evansville,  and 
cared  for  them,  which  was  exceedingly  commendable  on  the 
part  of  the  citizens  of  that  city.  Over  250  people  from  Ken- 
tucky had  taken  refuge  at  Newburg  and  Enterprise,  and  168- 
families  in  and  about  Grand  View,  ten  miles  from  Evans- 
ville, were  homeless,  and  in  a  distressed  condition.  Evans- 
ville interested  herself  in  their  condition,  and  aided  them  in. 
every  way  ;  also,  they  telegraphed  the  facts  to  the  Secretary 
of  War,  and  Governor  Porter,  of  Indiana.  All  this  time  the 


HISTORY    OF   THE    GREAT   FLOOD    OF    1884.  103 

Wabash  and  Tennessee  were  rising  with  great  rapidity,  and 
pouring  floods  of"  water  into  the  already  monstrous  Ohio,  and 
causing  it  to  rise  with  great  regularity  and  perseverance. 
Uniontown,  below,  was  getting  into  very  bad  shape.  The 
town  was  under  to  the  depth  of  several  feet.  Between  Union- 
town  and  Shawneetown,  the  country  on  both  sides  of  the 
river,  as  far  as  the  eye  could  reach,  was  a  vast  waste  of  water, 
trees  alone  marking  the  dividing  line  between  the  river  and 
the  shores  and  the  general  course  of  the  river.  Mt.  Vernon  and 
Henderson  were  faring  well  up  to  this  time,  being  situated, 
like  Evansville,  above  the  ordinary  level  of  towns  along  the 
banks  ;  but  Bridgeport,  Rosewood,  West  Haven,  Wolf  Creek, 
Alton,  Manchport,  Amsterdam,  Leavenworth,  Derby,  Rome, 
Stephensport,  Cloverport,  Tobinsport,  Hawesville,  Tell  City, 
Maxville,  were  all  enduring  trials  that  only  the  flooded  know. 
The  people  had  fled  entirely  away  from  the  towns  of  Bridge- 
port, Rosewood,  and  Maxville.  Indeed,  nearly  the  last  ves- 
tige of  these  towns  was  swept  away.  Thirty  thousand  rations 
were  distributed,  with  great  economy,  to  these  little  towns, 
almost  daily,  for  about  two  weeks.  Not  till  the  igth,  five 
days  after  the  water  had  reached  its  highest  point  at  Cincin- 
nati, did  it  reach  its  culminating  point  at  Evansville,  making 
forty-eight  feet  and  one-quarter  inch,  or  two  and  three-quar- 
ter inches  higher  than  in  1883.  It  is  rather  a  singular  coin- 
cidence that  the  two  greatest  floods  that  ever  visited  the  Ohio 
Valley  should  cease  to  rise  and  begin  to  recede  on  the  same 
day  of  the  month,  and  at  the  same  hour  (10  a.  m.)  of  the 
day.  That  afternoon,  at  about  half-past  four  o'clock,  a  storm 
of  great  violence  struck  the  city,  making  sad  havoc  among 
shaky  buildings,  and  the  shipping  at  the  wharf,  sinking  boats, 
and  barges  of  coal  that  were  held  in  great  need  at  that  time, 
damaging  the  wharf  boats,  which  were  driven  on  shore,  and 
tearing  down  house  after  house  on  the  Kentucky  side.  Out 
of  ten  houses  standing  in  a  group  at  Newburg,  twelve  miles 
above,  only  two  were  to  be  seen  after  the  storm.  The  only 
wonder  is  that  this  terrific  storm  was  not  followed  by  great 
loss  of  life  from  those  inhabiting  the  second  stories  of  their 
houses,  but  all  of  these  houses  were  closely  watched,  and  on 
the  slightest  crack  or  undermining  being  discovered,  they 
were  abandoned  at  once,  with  whatever  the  unfortunate  oc- 
cupants could  gather.  Many  would  hardly  get  out  until  the 
house  would  fall,  entirely  demolished,  and  the  fleeing  inhab- 
itants, in  the  midst  of  their  great  suffering,  would  rejoice  with 
great  gratitude  that  it  was  no  worse  with  them.  This  storm, 


I 
104  HISTORY    OF   THE    GRKAT    FLOOD    OF    1884. 

that  swept  down  the  Valley,  and  which  was  felt  to  some  ex- 
tent in  places  severely  on  the  upper  Ohio,  was  one  of  the 
worst  features  of  the  flood.  It  was  estimated  that  fully  one- 
half  of  the  corn  hauled  from  the  bottoms  and  stored  along  the 
river  in  large  depots  and  warehouses  was  lost.  The  river  on 
the  morning  after  the  storm  was  literally  strewn  with  the 
wrecks  of  houses  carried  away  by  the  gale.  Fifty  houses 
were  washed  away  at  Fairplay.  Many  people  had  to  be  res- 
cued from  trees  and  the  hills,  some  badly  frozen.  Two  men 
were  taken,  badly  frozen  and  exhausted,  from  a  tree  where 
they  had  clung,  in  wet  garments,  for  six  hours,  during  the 
darkness  of  the  night,  not  knowing  when  the  bending,  quiv- 
ering tree  would  give  way  and  hurl  them  into  the  great  mael- 
strom of  waters.  At  Scuffleton,  Ky.,  twelve  houses  were 
carried  away  by  the  storm,  and  some  narrow  escapes  made 
of  women  and  children  from  watery  graves.  This  storm 
penetrated  far  into  the  interior,  and  caused  great  loss  of  life 
and  property  at  many  places. 

At  Paducah  their  serious  troubles  began  on  the  nth.  The 
river  did  not  reach  its  greatest  height  until  the  night  of  the 
22d,  when  it  marked  fifty-four  feet  two  and  three-quarter 
inches,  or  two  feet  two  and  three-quarter  inches  higher  than 
in  1867,  the  previous  highest  stage  of  water  known.  It  would 
take  between  $200,000  and  $300,000  to  set  Paducah  back 
where  she  was  before  the  flood.  The  water  never  reached  a 
level  with  the  town  until  the  iyth.  Up  to  this  time  the  peo- 
ple had  been  in  the  best  of  spirits,  business  was  good,  and 
Paducah  was  lending  her  best  aid  to  her  unfortunate  neigh- 
bors. But  between  this  and  the  19111  the  water  had  been 
creeping  slowly  on  and  on,  until  her  whole  river  front  was 
flooded.  At  this  critical  time  the  same  fierce  storm  that  had 
played  such  havoc  above,  swept  down  on  Paducah.  The 
hard  dashing  of  the  water  soon  began  to  move  and  crumble 
the  large  tobacco  warehouses,  oil  warehouses,  and  other  large 
depots  of  merchandise,  and  one  after  another  they  tumbled 
into  ruin.  One  firm  lost  300  hogsheads  of  tobacco..  The 
damages  on  this  one  night  alone  amounted  to  $125.000  on  the 
wharf  of  Paducah.  The  tobacco  warehouse  of  Buckner  & 
Brann,  which  was  destroyed,  covered  an  acre  of  ground — 
the  largest  sale  tobacco  warehouse  in  the  United  States.  In 
addition  to  the  loss  of  several  of  these  large  warehouses  of 
merchandise,  fifteen  houses,  worth  from  $200  to  $i,oooeach, 
were  beaten  to  pieces  and  washed  away. 

The  damage  to  Metropolis  from   this  storm  was  dreadful, 


HISTORY    OF   THE    GREAT   FLOOD    OF    1884.  105 

amounting  to  $150.000.  At  New  Liberty  forty  houses, 
already  deserted  on  account  of  their  depth  in  water,  were 
beaten  down  and  washed  away.  At  Smithland,  an  already 
badly  wrecked  town,  thirty  houses  went  down.  The  greatest 
•distress  and  destitution  prevailed.  At  Paducah  alone  i  ,500  peo- 
ple were  being  fed  by  the  Relief  Committees.  Over  one-half  of 
the  inhabitable  part  of  the  city  was  in  water,  while  the 
highest  points  were  not  more  than  two  and  a-half  feet  out. 
Paducah  showed  much  enterprise  and  independence  in  look- 
ing out  and  caring  for  herself,  and  received  just  as  little 
as  she  could  get  along  with.  It  is  a  great  task  to  take  care 
•of  2,000  homeless  people  without  preparations  for  company, 
and  when  distressed  yourself,  but  Paducah  did  it,  and  did  it 
well,  with  but  little  outside  aid. 

A  colored  man  and  child,  and  colored  woman  and  two 
children,  run  out  of  their  homes  on  Indian  Creek,  in  Ten- 
nessee, started  down  the  creek  in  a  canoe.  In  a  strong 
current  the  canoe  struck  a  tree  and  the  five  were  thrown  out. 
The  man  and  child  were  swept  away  and  drowned,  but  the 
woman  in  falling  caught  two  of  the  children,  and  falling 
against  a  tree  she  wrapped  her  arms  around  it,  with  a  child  in 
each  hand,  and  held  on  for  two  terrible  hours,  when,  finally 
attracting  attention  by  her  cries,  they  were  rescued. 

At  Shawneetown,  above  Paducah,  a  great  many  fled  to  the 
hills.  Quite  a  number  of  the  inhabitants  were  very  sick 
during  the  flood,  and  a  number  died.  As  early  as  the  I4th 
the  water  was  getting  over  the  town  and  routing  people  who 
lived  in  one-story  houses,  who  took  refuge  on  the  hills  back. 
These  people  suffered  terribly  from  the  cold,  being  unable  to 
supply  themselves  with  fuel.  Through  the  streets  the  river 
•current  was  running  at  the  rate  of  eight  or  nine  miles  an 
hour,  weakening  the  foundations  of  the  buildings.  It  was 
estimated  that  between  Raleigh  and  Saline,  a  distance  of 
fifteen  miles,  150,000  bushels  of  corn  were  swept  away.  In 
all  that  distance  only  four  lots,  amounting  in  all  to  50,000 
bushels,  were  known  to  have  escaped.  In  the  town  the 
depth  of  water  ranged  from  fifteen  to  forty  feet.  Skiffs 
passed  over  good  sized  houses,  and  were  so  far  above  them 
they  could  hardly  reach  the  roofs  with  the  oars.  These 
houses  were  literally  weighted  down  with  rocks  ;  so  that  peo- 
ple may  see  what  desperate  measures  were  taken,  and  what  a 
"vast  amount  of  labor  people  went  to  to  secure  their  property. 
Above  and  below  Shawneetown,  for  miles,  was  nothing 
but  a  vast  sheet  of  water,  on  whose  bosom  were  strewed 


106  HISTORY    OF   THE   GREAT   FLOOD    OF   1884. 

tin'  wrecks  of  many  happy  homes,  and  the  savings  of  many 
years. 

We  now  come  to  Cairo,  the  terminus  of  this  mad  stream* 
that  has  wrought  such  widespread  devastation  to  so  many 
happy  and  prosperous  homes,  villages,  towns  and  cities. 

Cairo  and  Mound  City,  just  above,  are  both  protected  by  a 
system  of  levees.  As  long  as  the  levees  hold  there  is  no 
danger,  but  breaks  are  always  feared,  and  the -suspense  in 
time  of  high  water  is  nearly  as  bad  as  the  flood  itself  in  real- 
ization. Large  forces  were  put  to  work  on  these,  repairing 
and  keeping  a  watchful  eye  over  every  part  of  them.  As 
soon  as  a  break  occurred,  sand  bags  were  placed  in  the  break. 
At  Mound  City,  bulkheads  were  built  and  sand  bags  packed 
against  them,  and  every  washout  that  occurred  was  given  a 
heavy  dose  of  sand  bags  at  once.  All  of  New  Madrid,  Mo., 
was  under  water,  and  great  reports  of  suffering  and  destitu- 
tion, both  from  above  and  below,  coming  constantly  to  the 
ears  of  those  people,  made  them  doubly  watchful  and  vigi- 
lant. Several  slides  occurred  at  Mound  City,  but  a  large 
train  of  dirt  and  rock  arriving  opportunely  on  the  Wabash 
Road,  and  the  citizens  all  turning  out  and  exerting  them-- 
selves  to  the  utmost,  the  breach  was  repaired  and  the  city 
saved.  A  large  gap  was  cut  in  the  National  Cemetery  road, 
which,  letting  the  water  across  the  country,  relieved  it  ot 
much  of  its  strain.  Much  the  same  scenes  were  going  on 
constantly  at  Cairo  up  to  the  23d,  when  the  river  stood  still 
at  fifty-one  feet  ten  inches,  about  the  same  height  of  the  year 
before.  The  tornado  of  that  week,  which  occurred  on  Tues- 
day night,  washed  away  at  Uniontown  thirty  houses,  three 
of  them  large  warehouses,  one  containing  several  thousand 
bushels  of  wheat  belonging  to  Captain  Hambleton  ;  six  houses 
at  Raleigh ;  New  York  and  Algiers  were  entirely  swept 
away ;  fifteen  houses  were  carried  away  from  Fairplay ; 
twenty  from  Franklin  ;  Blackburn  was  washed  away.  At 
Smithland  thirty  houses  went  off,  including  Leister's  ware- 
house and  a  large  stock  of  goods  ;  half  of  the  people  were 
left  in  want.  New  Liberty  was  nearly  destroyed.  The  mill, 
Shearer's  residence  and  store,  and  the  hotel,  were  left,  but 
with  contents  hardly  fit  to  use  again.  At  Metropolis,  fifty- 
four  buildings  were  wrecked.  The  Yankee  Saw-mill  lost 
70,000  feet  of  walnut  lumber  and  veneers,  valued  at  $10,000. 
Shelton  &  Co.'s  Stove  Foundry  was  wrecked,  and  many 
business  houses  with  all  they  contained.  The  loss  here  is 
estimated  at  $150,000.  At  Joppa,  just  below  Metropolis,. 


t  HISTORY    OF   THE    GREAT    FLOOD    OF    1884.  107 

thirteen  stores  and  residences  were  damaged  or  destroyed, 
the  loss  amounting  to  many  thousands.  On  Wednesday 
morning",  the  2Oth,  three  colored  men  and  one  white  man 
were  rescued  here  from  a  tree  top,  where  they  had  rested  all 
night. 

But  while  all  these  fearful  scenes  were  being  enacted,  what 
were  all  the  towns  and  cities  of  the  interior,  which  had 
escaped  this  terrible  visitation,  doing?  Were  they  standing 
idly  at  rest,  congratulating  themselves  that  they  were  not  as 
bad  oft' as  their  neighbors,  and  U  nding  no  friendly  aid  to  the 
sufferers?  Ah,  no.  With  the  very  first  appeal  for  aid  came 
a  prompt  response.  First  from  those  near  by  ;  extending, 
however,  like  a  ripple  on  the  water,  it  gathered  and  spread 
all  over  the  continent  in  a  mighty  wave,  until  even  the  hill- 
tops were  flooded  with  sympathy  and  aid,  and  it  came  roll- 
ing down  by  train,  and  by  steamboat,  and  by  express,  and 
by  mail,  and  by  telegraph,  and  by  messenger,  until  every 
hungry  soul  was  fed,  and  every  naked  back  was  clothed,  and 
every  head  sheltered.  Such  an  outpouring  of  charity  the 
world  has  s*eldom  seen  or  witnessed.  These  usually  prosper- 
ous, happy  and  progressive  people  in  the  Ohio  Valley  are 
very  near  and  dear  to  every  State  in  the  Union,  and  it  was  a 
genuine  pleasure  for  the  people  everywhere  to  respond  with 
aid  and  sympathy.  It  is  difficult  to  tell  who  was  first,  so 
simultaneous  was  the  response.  Wherever  the  cry  was  heard 
it  was  answered.  Great  corporations  answered  ;  banks  an- 
swered ;  merchants,  churches,  schoolchildren,  women,  em- 
ployes, everybody  answered.  The  railroads  carried  what- 
ever was  given  gratuitously.  The  telegraph  lines  were  kept 
busy,  and  not  a  cent  asked  for  the  service.  The  telephone 
lines  sung  free  songs.  The  express  companies  charged 
nothing.  Steamboats  offered  their  services  free,  and  all  felt 
for  once,  if  they  never  did  before,  that  it  was  more  blessed 
to  give  than  to  receive.  It  was  a  royal  uprising,  and  the 
silver  lining  to  the  dark  and  angry  cloud  that  hovered  over 
the  Ohio  Valley.  Such  munificent  charity,  such  overflowing 
sympathy,  seemed  almost  too  good  to  be  of  human  origin, 
and  reminded  us  that  the  better  side  of  man  is  but  little  lower 
than  the  angels  after  all. 

The  following  proclamations  were  issued  by  Governors 
Porter,  of  Indiana,  and  Hoadly,  of  Ohio : 

INDIANAPOLIS,  February  u,  1884. 

To  the  People  of  Indiana: — The  Ohjo  River  has  already  risen  to  a 
height  exceeding  the  flood  of  1883,  and  its  waters  are  still  rising.  The  suffer- 


108  HISTORY    OF    THE    GREAT    FLOOD    OF    1884. 

ing  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  State  resulting  in  the  overflowed  towns  and  on 
the  bottom  lands  is  likely  to  be  very  great  unless  prompt  relief  is  given.  When 
the  calamity  of  1883  occurred,  the  people  of  the  State,  with  noble  generosity, 
vied  with  each  other  in  giving  help.  They  will  not  be  less  mindful  of  the  suf- 
fering now.  Better  provision  has  been  made  in  some  respects  for  the  present 
<ii>;istcr  than  was  made  for  that  of  last  year.  Contributions  of  clothing  and 
bedding  are  not,  it  is  understood,  at  present  desired,  but  money  is  greatly 
needed,  with  which  immediately  to  purchase  foou,  and  contributions  of  flour, 
meal  and  salt  meats  are  needed  where  money  cannot  be  conveniently  spared. 
Last  year  the  Relief  Committee  of  the  Indianapolis  Board  of  Trade  was  most 
prompt,  energetic  and  faithful  in  distributing  the  means  of  relief  placed  in  its 
hands. 

I  appeal  most  earnestly,  therefore,  to  all  the  people  of  the  State,  who  have 
means  to  do  so,  to  promptly  contribute  in  money  or  tood  to  the  relief  of  the 
inhabitants  of  the  overflowed  region.  And  it  gives  me  pleasure  to  announce 
to  them,  where  they  have  not  selected  other  agents,  that  any  contributions 
sent  to  N.  S.  Byram,  chairman  of  the  above  mentioned  committee;  Albert 
E.  Fletcher,  treasurer  thereof,  or  V.  T.  Malott,  Esq.,  a  member  thereof,  will 
promptly  and  faithfully  be  applied  to  the  purpose  intended. 

ALBERT  G.  PORTER,  Governor. 

W.  R.  MYERS,  Secretary  of  State. 

COLUMBUS,  OHIO,  February  i2th,  1884. 

To  the  People  of  Ohio: — The  distress  existing  along  our  southern  borders 
can  not  well  be  exaggerated.  Many  thousands  of  our  fellow-citizens  are  with- 
out food^md  shelter.  The  press  has  brought  vividly  to  the  attention  of  us  all 
the  details  of  the  sorrow  and  suffering  which  the  present  flood  has  entailed 
upon  our  people.  The  duty  of  the  citizens  of  Ohio  is  to  furnish  relief,  and 
that  immediately.  1  urge  upon  every  community  in  the  State  to  organize  at 
once  lor  the  purpose  of  providing  for  the  relief  of  their  unfortunate  fellow- 
citizens  who  live  on  the  banks  of.  the  Ohio.  Everything  is  needed,  and  at  every 
point  along  the  State  boundary,  except  at  Cincinnati,  which  is  taking  care  of  her 
own  sufferers.  Money,  clothing,  shelter,  and  food  must  be  provided,  and  that 
speedily,  or  loss  of  life  will  be  the  result.  An  energetic  comniittee  ,of  which 
Mr.  P.  W.  Huntington  is  the  chairman,  has  been  organized  in  Columbus.  This 
committee  will  undertake  the  task  of  distribution.  If  the  General  Assembly 
should  provide  for  the  creation  of  a  State  Relief  Committee,  the  appointments 
will  be  made  immediately,  and  said  commission  will  also  undertake  the  task  of 
distribution.  No  time  should  be  lost.  Organization  should  be  effected,  and 
what  may  be  given  for  the  purpose  forwarded  immediately. 

I  appeal,  therefore,  to  all  the  good  people  of  Ohio  to  take  steps  without  de- 
lav  to  assist  the  various  Relief  Committees  in  their  efforts  to  stay  the  tide  of 
distress  which  is  overwhelming  the  borders  of  the  State. 

Given  under  my  hand  and  the  great  seal  of  the  State  of  Ohio,  at  Columbus, 
this  i2th  day  of  February,  1884.  GEORGE  HOADLY, 

Attest:  Governor. 

JAMES  W.  NEWMAN,  Secretary  of  State. 

COLUMBUS,  OHIO,  February  14,  1884. 

To  the  People  of  O/iioi r-Under  the  authority  of  the  Act  of  the  General  Assem- 
bly "  for  the  relief  of  the  sufferers  in  this  State  by  the  present  flood,"  I  have  ap- 
pointed Charles  W.  Constantine,  of  Springfield  ;  John  W.  Byrne,  of  Branch 
Hill  ;  William  H.  Wallace,  of  Steubenville  ;  Joshua  S.  Crew,  of  Zanesville, 
and  P.  W.  Huntington,  of  Columbus,  Commissioners,  and  they  have  qualified 
and  organized  under  the  name  of  "The  Ohio  State  Relief  Commission." 
For  the  purpose  of  avoiding  was,te  and  duplication  of  bounty,  I  respectfully 
urge  the  good  people  of  Ohio,  whose  hearts  are  moved  with  sympathy  for  the 


HISTORY    OF    THE    GREAT   FLOOD    OF    1884. 

sufferings  of  their  fellow-citizens,  to  make  their  gifts  through  this  commission. 
I  make  this  request  with  the  full  concurrence  of  the  Columbus  Committee,  of 
which  Mr.  Huntington  is  chairman.  Shipments  and  remittances  should  be 
made  to  •'  The  Ohio  State  Relief  Commission,  Columbus,  Ohio."  The  com- 
mission has  ample  facilities  for  distribution,  and  is  devoting  itself  with  zeal, 
energy  and  judgment  to  the  work.  Given  under  my  hand  and  the  great  seal 
of  the  State  of  Ohio,  at  the  City  of  Columbus,  this  I4th  day  of  February,  A. 
D.  1884.  GEORGE  HOADLY. 

By  the  Governor: 

JAMKS  W.  NEWMAK,  Secretary  of  State. 

These  proclamations  were  supplemented  with  eloquent  ap- 
peals from  leading  citizens  of  Ohio,  Indiana  and  Kentucky, 
to  Congress  and  the  State  Legislatures.  The  House  Com- 
mittee on  Ways  and  Means  agreed,  on  the  morning  of  the 
i  ith  of  February,  to  report  a  bill  asking  Congress  for  an  im- 
imediate  appropriation  of  $300,000  for  the  sufferers  by  the 
Ohio  River  flood.  Later  in  the  day  the  bill  was  introduced 
by  Mr.  Follett.  Mr.  Hiscock  made  inquiry  whether  the  Ohio 
Legislature  had  made  any  appropriation  for  this  purpose,  or 
made  any  attempt  to  relieve  the  sufferers.  Mr.  Follett  replied 
it  had  made  an  appropriation,  and  so  had  the  Cincinnati 
Chamber  of  Commerce.  So  far  as  Cincinnati  was  con- 
cerned, she  would  take  care  of  her  own,  but  Cincinnati  was 
now  asking  for  temporary  relief  for  people  caught  in  a  calam- 
ity unprecedented  since  the  beginning  of  the  Government. 
It  was  not  a  question  of  what  the  letter  of  the  Constitution  or 
the  law  might  be.  It  was  the  cry  of  distress.  Mr.  Hiscock  said 
he  would  not  have  the  hardihood  to  vote  against  the  measure, 
but  he  had  expected  the  gentlemen  from  New  York  and 
Connecticut  would  call  attention  to  the  fact  that  there 
might  be  in  this  resolution  a  violent  attack  on  the  Constitu- 
tion. No  great  State  like  Ohio — an  Empire — ought  to  come 
here  when  the  Legislature  was  in  session  and  ask  to  have 
her  citizens  supported  from  the  Treasury.  Mr.  Conner  ex- 
pressed his  heartfelt  support  of  the  measure.  Mr.  Bayne 
could  discover  no  constitutional  difficulty  in  the  way  of  an 
appropriation.  Mr.  Horr  contended  the  pending  measure 
came  within  the  pale  of  the  Constitution.  Mr.  Goff  said  the 
gentleman  from  New  York  (Hiscock)  spoke  as  if  Ohio 
should  manage  this  question  herself.  There  were  to-day 
millions  of  people  suffering  because  of  the  great  flood,  and 
not  in  Ohio  alone,  but  in  Pennsylvania,  West  Virginia  and 
Kentucky.  In  the  face  of  the  great  calamity  it  was  no  time 
to  split  hairs  on  a  constitutional  question.  Mr.  Taylor,  of 
Ohio,  warmly  supported  the  measure,  but  predicted  $300,- 
ooo  would  be  insufficient  for  the  purposes  of  relief,  and  de- 


110  HISTORY    OF   THE    GREAT   FLOOD    OF    1884. 

clared  $1,000,000  would  not  be  more  than  sufficient.  Mr. 
Belford  was  glad  an  opportunity  had  been  found  to  open  the 
vaults  of  the  Treasury  and  to  relieve  the  Government  of  the 
surplus  revenue  so  diligently  hoarded  and  scrupulously  kept 
by  a  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  from  New  York.  Talk  about 
the  Constitution  !  Talk  about  law  !  Humanity  was  greater 
than  any  Constitution  ever  formulated  by  any  people.  It 
was  humanity  for  which  the  Constitution  was  'made  and  laws 
wore  enacted.  Mr.  Hiscock  said  that,  having  reported  in 
the  last  Congress  a  bill  for  the  relief  of  the  Mississippi  suffer- 
ers, he  didn't  suppose  anyone  would  think  he  was  troubled 
with  any  constitutional  question.  He  was  not,  and  yet  he 
\\as  in  favor  of  this  sort  of  thing  being  confined  to  States 
which  are  not  in  condition  to  expend  money  themselves.  Mr. 
Cox,  of  New  York,  questioned  the  constitutionality  of  the 
measure.  It  should  have  been  passed  in  silence,  and  if  there 
was  any  breach  of  the  Constitution,  God  Almighty,  in  his  kind- 
ness, would  pardon  it.  There  were  some  diseases  no  fore- 
sight could  anticipate  or  cure,  and  one  of  these  was  the  ca- 
lamity now  in  the  country  ;  and  if  he  could  not  give  his  hand 
or  his  head  he  would  give  his  heart  to  this  vote.  [Applause.] 
Messrs.  Reagan,  Townshend,  Blount,  Jordan,  Warner  and 
Eaton  spoke  in  favor  of  the  bill.  Mr.  Wilson  offered  an 
amendment  increasing  the  appropriation  to  $500,000.  Mr. 
Follett  said  the  committee  thought  $300,000  sufficient.  The 
amendment  was  rejected — yeas,  109  ;  nays,  159.  The  joint 
resolution  was  then  passed — yeas,  233  ;  nays,  12. 

On  the  1 3th,  the  Ohio  Legislature  debated  the  bill 
appropriating  $200,000  for  the  flood  sufferers.  An  amend- 
ment, making  the  amount  $300,000,  was  lost  and  $200,000 
appropriated,  and  in  accordance  with  the  wishes  of  Gov. 
Hoadly,  authority  was  given  him  to  appoint  a  Commission  of 
Five  to  attend  to  the  distribution.  The  Governor  thought 
this  a  better  plan,  as  the  State  officers  were  busy  and  could 
not  well  leave  Columbus,  and  the  work  could  be  better  per- 
formed by  a  Commission.  The  following  were  appointed : 
C.  W.  Constantine,  of  Springfield  :  John  Byrne,  of  Branch 
Hill ;  Wm.  H.  Wallace,  of  Steubenville ;  Joshua  S.  Crew,  of 
Zanesville,  and  P.  W.  Huntington,  of  Columbus.  Mr.  Con- 
stantine was  elected  President  and  Mr.  Huntington,  Secre- 
tary. The  inundated  territory  was  divided  into  the  follow- 
ing districts  :  From  the  State  line  on  the  east  to  Newport,  to 
be  known  as  District  No.  I  ;  from  Newport  to  Pomeroy  as 
District  No.  ^  ;  from  Pomeroy  west  to  the  State  line  as  Dis- 


HISTORY    OF    THE    GREAT   FLOOD    OF    1884.  Ill 

trict  No.  3.  District  No.  i  was  assigned  to  W.  H.  Wallace; 
District  No.  2  to  J.  S.  Crew  ;  District  No.  3  to  John  Byrne, 
•C.  W.  Constantine  and  P.  W.  Huntington — Mr.  Hunting- 
ton  remaining  at  Columbus  in  charge  of  the  funds.  On  the 
i5th,  a  joint  resolution  from  the  House,  in  Congress,  appro- 
priating an  additional  $200,000,  was  passed,  and  the  Presi- 
dent of  the  Senate  instantly  affixed  his  signature.  On  the 
I3th,  the  Kentucky  Legislature  appropriated  $25,000  for  the 
sufferers.  This  was,  on  the  I5th,  increased  by  an  additional 
$75,000,  making  Kentucky's  appropriation  entire  $100,000. 
The  Legislatures  of  Indiana  and  West  Virginia,  not  being  in 
session,  the  citizens  of  the  cities  and  towns  of  those  States 
contributed  largely.  Here,  then,  was  State  and  United  States 
relief,  outside  of  other  donations  of  a  private  or  charitable 
character,  of  near  one  million  dollars  in  cash.  The  United 
-States  having  placed  her  appropriation  in  the  hands  of 
Secretary  of  War  Robt.  T.  Lincoln,  he  acted  with  the 
most  commendable  promptness.  He  did  not  receive  the 
signed  bill  till  5  :  30  on  the  I2th.  But  in  advance,  in  order 
to  have  the  work  under  way,  had  at  that  time  telegraphed 
authorizing  the  expenditures  annexed  to  the  following  Mayors  : 
Marietta,  O.  (for  Marietta,  Harmar  and  vicinity  ),  $2,000; 
Point  Pleasant,  W.  Va.,  $500;  Guyandotte,  W.  Va.,  $500; 
Mason  City,  W.  Va.,  $500;  Lawrenceburg,  Ind.,  $2,000; 
Hartford  City,  W.  Va.,  $500;  Parkersburg,  W.  Va.,  $1,000; 
Pomeroy,  Ohio,  $r,ooo;  Gallipolis,  Ohio,  $1,000;  Wheel- 
ing, W.  Va.,  $2,000;  Steubenville,  Ohio,  $1,000;  Martin's 
Ferry,  Ohio,  $1,000;  Bridgeport,  Ohio,  $1,000;  Bellaire, 
Ohio,  $1,000. 

Governors  Hoadly,  of  Ohio ;  Porter,  of  Indiana,  and 
Knott,  of  Kentucky,  were  equally  prompt ;  but,  with  all 
promptness,  these  were  works  requiring  time,  and  had  it  not 
been  for  others,  who,  being  nearer  to  the  scenes  of  devasta- 
tion, could  act  and  act  knowingly,  and  with  a  like  prompt- 
ness and  dispatch,  starvation  and  the  direst  extremities  must 
have  ensued. 

THE  OITY  OF  QALLIPOLIS, 

not  being  a  sufferer  by  the  flood,  and  being  but  little  incon- 
venienced thereby,  has  no  tale  of  cruel  devastation  and  loss 
to  be  told.  Her  part  in  that  thrilling  and  never-to-be-forgot- 
ten drama  was  that  of  the  "Good  Samaritan" — "The 
Angel  of  Mercy" — hence,  what  we  shall  say  of  her  comes 
appropriately  here.  Being  one  of  the  oldest  and  most  favor- 


HISTORY    OF   THE    GREAT   FLOOD    OF    1884. 

ably  known  towns  on  the  river,  and  with  her  sons  and 
daughters  scattered  over  every  State  and  Territory  in  the 
Union,  it  is  with  pardonable  pride  that  she  rejoices  in  being 

the  ONLY  REALLY  HIGH-WATER  TOWN    OF    NOTE  IN  THE  OHIO 

VALLEY.  Providence  so  decreed,  and  so  it  is.  It  is  simply 
the  statement  of  a  cold  and  solid  fact  in  this  connection. 
She  did  not  survey  the  situation,  however,  with  a  cold  and 
unsympathizing  heart,  nor  lurn  deaf  ears  to  the  wailing  cries 
of  the  distressed  ones  around  her. 

If  Providence  designed  and  nature  decreed  that  there  should 
be  refreshing  and  fertile  oases  in  the  arid  desert,  and  Gibral- 
tern  rocks  in  mid-ocean — if  there  should  be  a  balm  for  every 
wound,  a  rose  for  every  piercing  thorn,  and  a  silver  lining  to 
every  desolating  cloud,  it  is  not  too  much  to  imagine  that 
Gallipolis  had  as  important  a  part  to  play,  and  as  important  a 
trust  to  fulfill,  as  did  the  demon  of  destruction  turned  loose  in 
the  Ohio  Valley  to  smite,  blight,  and  strew  in  mangled  wreck 
the  peaceful  and  happy  homes  that  were  strung  as  pearls  on 
a  silver  strand  from  the  Monongahela  and  Allegheny  to  the 
Mississippi.  If  this  was  the  mission  of  Gallipolis,  in  the  great 
flood  of  1884,  when  towns  upon  towns,  and  villages  and  ham- 
lets were  hemmed  in  and  engulfed  by  hundreds,  and  naught 
but  lamentation  and  woe  ascended  from  their  housetops,  then 
indeed  did  she  fill  her  mission  well,  and  was  sacred  to  the 
trust  reposed  in  her.  Her  hands  are  clean  and  her  conscience 
clear.  She  asks  not  even  commendation  or  approval.  It  was 
but  her  simple  duty,  and  she  did  it  without  ostentation,  her  only 
pride  being  in  the  fact  that  she  was  in  a  situation  to  render 
aid.  Her  first  acts  of  kindness  began  with  those  closest  and 
most  immediately  related,  Point  Pleasant,  Addison,  Cheshire, 
Chambersburg,  Millersport,  Athalia,  and  extending  up  and 
down  the  river  as  far  as  her  arms  could  reach.  Private  sub- 
scriptions enabled  her  to  do  this,  until  aid  from  the  interior 
began  to  flow  in  for  her  use.  The  City  Council  made  an  ap- 
propriation of  $500  immediately,  and  the  Board  of  Health 
and  Township  agreed  to  take  care  of  any  of  our  own  people 
living  in  the  bottoms  around  us,  and  who  were  sufferers  or 
being  discommoded,  and  in  need  of  assistance.  But  it  is  not 
our  purpose  to  go  into  the  details  of  the  work  of  the  Relief 
Committee.  This  part  of  the  work  has  been  assigned  to  a 
gentleman  intimately  associated  with  the  work,  and  who  is 
acquainted  with  every  step  of  the  committees,  in  their  ardu- 
ous and  trying  undertakings,  and  will  constitute  a  chapter 
by  itself.  Our  purpose  is  only  to  describe  the  general  fea- 


HISTORY    OF    THK    GKKAT    FLOOD    OF    1884.  113 

turcs  of  the  flood  as  it  appeared  here.  From  the  evening  of 
February  5  to  the  evening  of  the  next  day — twenty-four 
hours — the  river  jumped  up  rive  feet,  or  two  and  a-half  inches 
an  hour.  Being  already  in  good  stage,  this  caused  many  to 
say,  "We're  going  to  have  a  big  river."  This  is  what  they 
usually  remark  here  when  the  water  is  coming  up.  We 
never  are  disturbed  about  floods.  We  read  of  them,  and  have 
a  vague  idea  of  the  suffering,  and  inconvenience,  and  loss, 
but  that  is  all.  On  the  evening  of  the  5th,  here,  the  river 
began  the  remarkable  experiment  of  seeing  how  long  it  could 
advance  at  the  rate  of  three  inches  an  hour.  That  seemed 
to  be  its  shibboleth  and  banner  cry  from  Pittsburgh  to  Cairo. 
It  was  so  here,  and  when  it  began  that  remarkable  and  per- 
sistent gait  of  advance  we  were  exactly  fourteen  feet  below 
the  rise  of  February  9,  1883.  Fourteen  feet  on  a  big  river, 
from  a  half  to  three-fourths  of  a  mile  wide,  constitutes  an 
awful  volume  of  water,  and  seemed  too  great  to  be  ever  re- 
peated to  the  extent  of  the  rise  of  the  year  before.  But  for 
eighty-four  hours  there  was  an  almost  unintermittent  advance 
of  three  inches  an  hour.  On  Friday  morning,  Februarys, 
at  10  o'clock,  the  marks  of  February  9,  1883,  were  reached. 
At  8  o'clock,  Friday  evening,  though  the  advance  had  be- 
come reduced  to  two  and  a  quarter  inches  an  hour  for  the 
previous  six  hours,  1832  was  reached,  and  still  advancing. 
In  front  of  the  Public  Square,  or  Park,  where  the  river  street 
had  been  graded,  the  water  now  began  to  come  into  the  Park, 
This  was  indeed  a  wonderful  performance  for  the  river  here, 
and  a  sight  the  oldest  inhabitants  (and  but  few  were  left) 
had  ever  seen,  but  what  made  it  yel  more  wonderful, 
it  was  advancing  steadily.  Saturday  morning,  John  C. 
Shepard,  J.  M.  Kerr,  Chas.  Carel  and  Samuel  Vanvleck  lilted 
a  skiff  over  the  Park  fence,  and  a  skiff  ride  was  taken  inside 
that  enclosure.  Many  filled  bottles  with  water  inside  the  en- 
closure and  sealed  them  up,  marking  them,  as  mementoes  of 
the  great  flood. 

On  Sunday  morning  at  10  o'clock,  February  loth,  the 
water  was  fifty-two  inches  above  1832,  and  reduced  to  a  pro- 
gramme of  an  inch  an  hour's  advance.  This  it  continued 
through  Sunday  night.  From  Monday  morning  at  7  o'clock 
there  was  no  perceptible  rise  until  after  i  o'clock  p.  m.,  when 
it  rose  an  inch,  and  then  stood  until  I  o'clock  Tuesday  morn- 
ing, when  a  subsidence  was  noticed,  and  by  6  o'clock  it  had 
receded  three  inches.  From  this  time  on  there  was  a  grad- 
ual decline,  only  falling  four  feet  up  to  5  p.  m.,  Wednesday. 


1.14  HISTORY    OF   THE    GREAT    FLOOD    OF   1884. 

in  forty  hours.  At  the  water's  greatest  height  here,  which 
might  be  said  to  have  been  all  day  Monday,  February  n, 
tlu-  sceiu's  about  the  city  were  novel  in  the  extreme.  Galli- 
polis  was  a  perfect  island.  The  water  between  Sycamore 
Street,  at  the  extreme  head  of  town,  to  Mill  Creek  Bridge, 
was  running  with  a  strong  current  over  the  bank,  and  follow- 
ing the  railroad  track,  reached  the  backwater  by  it.  Only 
an  inch  or  so  of  the  top  of  the  arch  of  the  iron  bridge  over 
Mill  Creek  was  out  of  water.  The  water  in  the  Park  had 
advanced  past  the  music  stand,  in  the  centre  of  the  Park, 
'ncntv-five  feet  toward  Second  Street,  and  George  House, 
Joseph  Rupe,  Chas.  Stockhoff  and  Charley  Greenwood  rode 
euurely  around  the  music  stand  in  a  skiff.  A  line  stretched 
from  the  Park  Central  Hotel  diagonally  through  the  Park  to 
Capt.  G.  W.  Cox's  residence,  on  the  river  end  of  Court 
Street,  showed  a  considerable  portion  of  more  than  half  the 
Park  to  be  covered  with  water.  A  skiff  could  now  pass  over 
the  Park  fence  for  half  the  distance  along  the  river  front. 
The  water  crept  up  the  graded  wharf  at  the  McClurg  land- 
ing, at  the  foot  of  Locust  Street,  and  took  that  street,  passing 
the  court-house  at  the  depth  of  three  inches,  to  Capt.  J.  H. 
Evans's  building,  at  the  corner  of  Second  and  Locust,  used 
as  the  Mayor's  office,  and  boards  had  to  be  laid  down  on 
bricks  above  the  water  for  pedestrians  crossing  Locust  on 
the  north  side  of  Second.  The  water  took  the  gutters  on 
Second  at  this  corner,  and  ran  deep  enough,  at  the  alley  be- 
hind the  court-house,  opening  on  Second,  for  a  skiff;  and  in- 
deed a  youngster,  for  our  especial  gratification,  pushed  a 
large  John-boat  to  the  mouth  of  this  alley,  on  Second.  It 
went  yet  further  up  the  gutters,  meeting  in  front  of  A. 
Vance's  residence  the  water  that  followed  the  gutters  from 
the  river  at  the  foot  of  Cedar  Street  and  that  had  taken  down 
Second.  At  the  foot  of  Spruce  Street  it  followed  the  rail- 
road track  to  between  Second  and  Third,  and  made  it  im- 
passable for  pedestrians  around  Mollohan's  corner,  only  lack- 
ing an  inch  or  so  of  getting  to  his  store  floor.  On  the  river 
front,  below  Court,  it  was  on  the  sidewalks  for  a  third  of  the 
square.  From  Chickamauga  Creek,  at  the  lower  end  of 
town,  it  wandered  up  Vine  Street  to  Third,  spreading  itself 
three  feet  deep  on  the  floor  of  Anchor  Mills,  owned  by  S.  F. 
Neal.  On  this  street  and  Fourth  it  compelled  the  removal  of 
several  families,  and  shut  up  the  business  houses  of  Henry 
Hannan,  William  Cook  and  Stephen  Neal,  and  C.  Doep- 
ping's  blacksmith  shop.  You  could  take  a  skiff  at  the  curb- 


HISTORY    OF   THE    GREAT    FLOOD    OF   1884.  115 

stone,  at  the  foot  of  Third  Street,  and  ride  out  Vine  into 
Chickamauga,  and  rusticate  over  farms  for  many  miles. 
The  New  Era,  Capt.  Chas.  A.  Clendinen's  steamboat,  of 
perhaps  100  tons  burthen,  did  run  up  Chickamauga  to  Elza 
Mill's  residence,  four  miles  back  of  town,  on  the  railroad, 
and  carried  supplies  for  the  suffering  to  Gallipolis  for  a  week 
or  more.  Chickamauga  backed  into  Pine  Street,  and  only 
lacked  eight  inches  of  flooding  the  floor  of  Z.  Denney's 
store.  The  depot  of  the  C.,  H.  V.  &T.R.  R.  had  four  feet  nine 
inches  of  water  on  its  floor.  Between  the  Dufour  House  and 
the  old  Coleman  corner,  opposite,  the  water  was  two  feet  deep. 
A  large  barge  was  pushed  up  this  street  and  anchored 
in  front  of  J.  J.  Pool's  residence.  The  Dufour  House 
fronts  on  Front  Street,  with  its  rear  towards  the  river, 
and  is  consequently  as  much  higher  on  the  river  side  as 
is  the  decline  of  the  bank.  The  cellar,  kitchen,  dining- 
room  and  saloon  are  all  on  the  bank,  below  the  level 
of  Front  Street.  These  were  completely  inundated,  and  all 
business  pertaining  to  them  carried  on  in  the  floors  which 
were  on  a  level  with  the  grade  of  the  town.  The  water 
rushed  like  a  torrent,  four  feet  deep,  under  the  county  bridge 
over  the  railroad  on  Mill  Creek.  These  were  all  strange 
and  impressive  scenes  to  even  the  oldest  inhabitant,  for  their 
like  had  never  been  seen  before  ;  but  in  the  face  of  all  this, 
ninety-nine-hundredths  of  the  city  was  dry  and  high  above 
the  flood. 

W.  R.  White,  Esq.,  Surveyor  for  the  County,  at  our 
request,  took  his  instruments  and  collected  the  following 
facts  relative  to  our  position  here  above  the  highest  water: 
The  first  floor  of  the  Betz  Opera  House,  corner  of  Second 
and  State  Streets,  above  high-water  mark,  one  foot  five  and 
three-quarter  inches ;  first  floor  of  the  Park  Central  Hotel, 
corner  of  Second  and  State,  opposite,  one  foot  eight  and 
one-half  inches ;  first  floor  of  the  block  owned  by  John 
Sanns,  P.  A.  Sanns  &  Son  and  Captain  James  A.  McClurg, 
on  Second,  fronting  Park,  three  feet  one-half  inch  ;  first  floor 
of  the  Ohio  Valley  Bank,  on  Second,  fronting  the  Park  (the 
Shober  block),  three  feet  five  and  one-half  inches  ;  first  floor 
of  Fred.  Dages'  stove  foundry,  corner  of  Second  and  Grape, 
two  feet  eight  inches  ;  first  floor  Eureka  Mills,  Morgan  Bros., 
corner  of  Third  and  Grape,  seven  feet  five  inches  ;  first  floor  of 
the  Geneva  Hotel,  opposite  Eureka  Mills,  seven  feet  five 
inches  ;  Wm.  C. Miller's  block, corner  Third  and  Court  Streets, 
five  feet  four  inches  ;  first  floor  Buckeye  Mills,  Lawson  & 


116  HISTORY    OF   THE    GREAT   FLOOD    OF    1884. 

Bell,  northwest  end  of  State  Street,  eight  feet ;  first  floor  of 
Union  School  building,  corner  Fourtk  and  Locust,  eight  feet 
five  and  one-half  inches ;  lowest  step  of  Court  House,  be- 
tween Front  and  Second,  eight  feet  three  and  one-half 
inches  ;  first  floor  of  the  M.  E.  Church,  corner  of  Second 
and  Cedar  Streets,  two  feet  five  and  one-half  inches.  The 
general  average  of  the  twelve  points  taken  above,  which 
represent  neither  the  lowest  and  not  the  highest  points  in 
town  by  several  feet,  is  five  feet  and  one-half  inch.  Surveyor 
White  says :  "The  foregoing  points  taken  are  a  very  fair 
average  elevation  of  the  greater  portion  of  the  city.  The 
grade  of  some  of  the  streets  having  been  cut  down  from  two 
to  eight  feet  below  the  general  surface,  have  caused  slight 
overflows  on  Front  or  River  Street,  at  its  intersection  with 
the  cross  streets ;  yet  the  buildings  are  almost  all  from  three 
to  six  feet  above  the  highest  marks  of  February  n,  1884 — 
they  having  been  bui'lt  before  the  grading  was  done,  and 
the  lots  on  which  they  stand  all  being  higher  than  the 
streets.  Thus  it  will  be  seen  that  it  would  have  taken  at 
least  five  feet  above  the  highest  mark  to  have  caused  any 
damage."  We  might  add,  in  this  connection,  that  though, 
no  part  of  the  plateau  of  the  city  is  on  a,  hill  or  hillside,  yet 
there  is  a  very  large  portion  of  the  city  in  upper,  or  east  end, 
where  the  level  of  the  street  is  much  higher  than  any  point 
taken.  It  is  therefore  seen  by  the  reader  that  when  we 
say  that  Gallipolis  is  a  "high  and  dry"  town,  above  the  high- 
est water  ever  known,  it  is  no  idle  boast,  but  a  literal  fact,  of 
which  we  should  be  justly  proud.  The  exact  low-water 
mark  at  this  point  is  not  known,  and  the  stage  of  the  river  at 
this  time  prevents  its  ascertainment ;  but  there  are  marks 
here  that  furnish  as  reliable  a  record  of  the  height  of  one 
flood  above  another  as  can  be  found  along  the  river.  These 
are  the  stone  steps  leading  from  the  top  of  the  bank  or  level 
of  the  yard  of  Capt.  Joseph  W.  DeVacht,  down  to  nearly 
low-watermark.  They  were  laid  in  1821,  by  Col.  Luther 
Shepard,  assisted  by  Stephen  Curry  (the  latter  yet  living), 
and  have  neyer  been  moved.  They  are  as  plumb  and  square 
as  the  day  they  were  laid,  the  bank  having  never  slipped  nor 
changed  so  as  to  disturb  them.  The  mark  of  1832  was  cut 
by  Grandfather  De  Vacht,  father  of  "Uncle  Joe,"  as  he  is 
familiarly  called  by  all  who  know  the  genial  and  clever  old 
gentleman,  and  the  1847  mark  was  cut  in  the  step  by  "Uncle 
Joe's"  brother-in-law,  the  late  Julius  Regnier, father  of  Captain 
Charles  Regnier,  druggist,  of  this  city.  The  marks  of  1883, 


HISTORY    OF    THE    GREAT   FLOOD    OF    1884.  117 

•and  1884  were  cut  by  Captain  Regnier  himself,  and  every 
other  one  by  Captain  Joseph  W.  De  Vacht,  or  "Uncle  Joe." 
The  following  is  the  record  on  these  steps : 

Ft.     In. 

1852  over  1875 2   9>£ 

1852  over  1883 .  4)^ 

1847  over  1852 8)£ 

1882  over  1847 I 

1847  over  1883 

1832  over  1883 2 

1884  over  1832 6   3 

A  silver  plate  will  be  placed  in  these  steps,  to  mark  the 
water  of  1884. 

Making  1884  now  the  standard,  we  deduce  the  following 
•from  the  above : 

Ft.     In. 

1884  over  1832 6   3 

1884  over  1847 7   5 

1884  over  1852 8 

1884  over  1865 ii   8 

.1884  over  18715 ; 10   9)^ 

1884  over  i883 8   4)! 

Assuming  that  there  were  sixty-five  feet  of  water  in  the 
channel  here  in  1832,  it  is  easy  to  ascertain  the  depth  in  each 
year  named,  and  gives  for  1884  a  depth  or  heighth  of  seventy- 
one  feet  three  inches,  which  cannot  be  much  out  of  the  way, 
and  compares  well  with  other  points  along  the  river,  as  pub- 
lished by  them.  And  when  it  is  considered  that  Gallipolis 
can  stand,  without  damage  worthy  of  note,  yet  another  and 
additional  five  feet  on  top  of  this,  it  will  impress  itself  at  once 
upon  the  mind  of  the  reader  that  we  occupy  the  most  elevated 
-situation  of  any  town  of  note  in  the  Ohio  Valley. 


WORK  OF  THE  RELIEF  COMMITTEE  OF  QALLIPOLIS,  O. 


[PBEPAKED   BY   THEO.   N.   WILSON.] 


The  rapid  rise  of  the  waters  of  the  Ohio  gave  a  startling  alarm  to  the  inhab- 
itants of  Gallipolis  to  "  be  up  and  doing  ;  "  to  be  prepared  in  the  event  of  the 
old  Frencli  city  becoming  inundated.  Very  little  fear  was  entertained  for  Gal- 
lipolis proper,  however,  ns  "ye  oldest  inhabitant"  still  held  absolute  sway 
in  having  the  high  water  mark  of  1832  nearly  two  feet  above  the  highest  level 
of  last  year's  flood.  Tale-  of  the  suffering  of  the  towns  and  cities  above  created 
deep  sympathy  in  the  hearts  of  our  citizens,  and  it  was  resolved,  by  one  and  all, 
that  we  should  succor  those  who  were  unfortunate,  and  that  we,  who  had  here- 
tofore surveyed  from  our  high  position  the  misery  of  those  around  us,  slum  Id  now 
•step  down  and  go  to  the  relief  of  our  friends  who  had  been  driven  from  their 
homes  by  the  angry  floods. 


118  HISTORY    OF   THE    GREAT    FLOOD    OF    1884. 

On  Saturday,  February  9,  the  Board  of  Trade  held  a  called  meeting,  at  which- 
Messrs  Louis  Baer,  I*.  A  Sanns,  and  Silas  Brosius  were  appointed  a  committee 
to  act,  in  conjunction  with  J.  M.  Alexander,  Mayor  of  the  city,  t-  to  raise  funds 
for  the  relief  of  the  Hood  sufltrers,  and  to  take  such  other  n  eessary  steps  as  the 
emergency  requires."  To  iliis  committee  Messrs  W.  G.  Fuller  and  William 
Kling,  memhers  of  the  Cily  Council,  were  added  by  the  Board  of  Trade. 

On  Monday,  February  11,  W.  G.  Fuller,  President  of  the  City  Council,  called 
a  meeting  of  the  Council  ''to  consider  their  duty  in  the  emergency  of  the  flood 
now  upon  us."  The  first  action  of  the  meeting  was  to  appoint  Couucilmeu  A. 
J.  (iiven  and  M.  Mollohau  to  act  with  tht  committee  selected  by  the  Board  of 
Trade. 

The  Relief  Committee,  now  being  officially  constituted,  proceeded  to  organize 
by  the  election  of  A.  J.  Green  as  chairman,  and  Louis  Baer  as  secretary  and 
treasurer.  The  next  act  was  to  charter  the  steamer  New  Era,  to  carry  supplies 
to  needy  points  above.  Previous  to  this  four  public-spirited  gentlemen,  Messrs. 
W.  H.  Harvey,  J.  Frank  Morgan,  D.  H.  Baldridge,  and  S.  A.  Dunbar,  had,  on- 
their  own  account  and  risk,  chartered  the  steamer  Jim  Montgomery  for  the 
same  purpose,  and  made  a  trip  up  the  river  as  far  as  Pomeroy,  giving  food  to 
those  inundated  The  supplies  furnished  by  these  gentlemen  had  been  pur- 
chased from  funds  contributed  by  citizens  of  Gallipolis.  Messrs.  C.  Fred  Hen- 
king  and  S  H.  Olmsted,  who  had,  on  Saturday,  been  appointed  a  committee  to 
find  out  the  condition  of  sufferers  at  Middleport,  Pomeroy,  and  other  towns, 
reported  their  condition  '•  most  horrible."  The  gentlemen  on  the  Jim  Mont- 
gomery verified  this  statement,  and  urged  the  necessity  of  continued  relief  for 
the  poor  sufferers.  Messrs.  A.  J.  Green  and  E.  S.  Aleshire  were  then  appointed, 
to  take  charge  of  the  steamer  Montgomery  and  proceed  up  the  river  with  a  full: 
load  of  provisions.  Mr.  Green,  having  accepted  this  position,  tendered  his  res- 
ignation as  Chairman  of  the  Relief  Committee,  which  was  accepted.  Colonel 
W.  G.  Fuller  was  elected  to  the  vacancy,  and  here  it  is  proper  to  record  the 
fact  that  much  is  due  to  his  executive  ability,  cool  judgment,  and  gentU  manly- 
deportment,  that  the  Relief  Committee  of  Gallipolis  was  enabled  to  do  so  much 
for  the  alleviation  of  suffering  in  this  section  of  the  Ohio  Valley.  From  this 
date  (February  11),  Colon*  1  Fuller  retrained  at  its  head,  devoting  much  of  his 
time,  and  directing  its  business  in  harmony  with  all.  In  this  he  was  ably 
assisted  by  the  entire  committee,  which  now  consisted  of  Louis  Baer,  P.  A. 
Sanns,  Silas  Brosius,  W.  G.  Fuller  and  William  Kling,  appointed  by  the  Board 
of  Trade;  His  Honor,  J.  M.  Alexander,  Mayor,  and  A.  J.  Green  and  M.  Mol- 
lohan,  appointed  by  the  City  Council.  The  committee  were  daily  in  receipt  of 
many  telegrams  and  letters  from  abroad,  advising  donations  of  money,  food  and 
clothing  for  the  use  of  the  flood  sufferers.  For  over  three  wee1  s  abundant  sup- 
plies were  shipped  over  the  Columbus,  Hocking  Valley  &  Toledo  Railway, 
sometimes  as  many  as  seven  car  loads  on  a  single  day.  These  supplies  were  re- 
ceived into  waiehouses.  where  they  were  assorted  and  then  shipped  on  steamers 
chartered  by  the  committee,  to  towns  up  and  down  the  river,  from  Marietta  to 
Portsmouth,  a  distance  of  one  hundred  and  eighty  miles.  At  one  time  thctcom- 
mittee  had  five  boats  under  charter.  A  strict  account  of  the  receipts  and  dis- 
tribution of  all  goods  was  kept  at  the  different  depots,  and  a  full  official  report 
will  be  found  in  this  volume.  The  receipts  became  so  large,  and  poured  in  so- 
rapidly  that  four  large  warerooms  were  rented  to  store  'hem.  Depot  No.  1  was 
at  first  used  for  all  classes  of  supplies,  and  was  under  the  personal  superintend- 
ence of  Silas  Brosius,  assisted  by  C.  H.  Schaefer,  C.  H.  McCormick,  and  Chas. 
Coverston. 

Depot  No.  2  was  opened  on  February  13.  This  was  intended  principally  for 
meat,  flour  and  other  provisions,  and  was  placed  in  charge  of  Theo.  N.  Wilson 
and  Charles  Joachim,  assisted  by  Chas.  Parsons,  O.  \V.  Jay  and  John  Frank- 
lin. Very  large  supplies  of  clothing  and  bedding  were  coming  in  rapidly,  and 
the  committee  were  obliged  to  open  Depots  Nos.  3  and  4.  These  were  under- 


HISTORY   OF  THE    GREAT   FLOOD    OF    1884.  119 

the  management  of  John  T.  Halliday  and  W.  B.  Trump,  assisted  by  W.  R. 
Morgan,  John  L.  Guy,  D.  S.  Trobridge,  Henry  Skinner,  and  B.  F.  Jolley. 
Mrs.  Wm.  Jeffers,  Mrs.  W.  R.  Morgan,  Mrs.  A.  J.  Carter,  Miss  H.  U.  Maxon, 
Mrs.  Miles,  and  Mrs.  Dr.  Sanns,  also  devoted  much  time  to  this  department, 
and  their  services  were  of  great  benefit. 

Many  attempts  were  made  to  obtain  supplies  from  the  depots  by  parties  who 
were  not  flood  sufferers,  and  doubtless  the  managers  were  imposed  upon  in  some 
instances,  but  not  so  much  as  has  been  reported.  Every  possible  precaution  was 
taken  to  prevent  imposition;  committees  were  formed  at  all  the  towns  between 
Marietta  and  Portsmouth,  and  it  was  only  upon  requisitions  and  orders  from 
these  committees  that  provisions  and  clothing  were  furnished.  "  It  were  better 
that  ten  unworthy  persons  should  be  supplied,  than  to  have  one  needy  person 
overlooked,"  was  the  remark  made  by  more  than  one  individual. 

Through  the  medium  of  the  chartered  steamers,  over  six  thousand  packages 
were  distributed  in  our  district ;  twenty -six  hundred  were  sent  out  by  the  local  pack- 
ets, and  eleven  hundred  and  eighty-eight  orders  were  filled  at  the  depots.  The 
orders  filled  at  the  depots  were  of  various  amounts,  according  to  the  size  and 
need  of  the  families,  but  would  probably  average  a  week's  supply  for  six  per- 
sons, and  generally  consisted  of  a  twenty-five  pound  sack  of  flour,  eight  pounds 
meat,  two  pounds  coffee,  two  pounds  sugar,  two  pounds  rice,  two  pounds  hom- 
iny, dried  and  canned  fruits,  tea,  baking  powder,  soap,  candles,  matches,  &c., 
with  clothing  and  bedding  as  required.  As  a  rule,  those  relieved  were  thank- 
ful, though,  of  course,  among  so  many,  there  would  be  an  occasional  grumbler, 
and  some  of  the  demands  made  upon  the  managers  were  amusing.  One  lady 
wanted  her  stock  of  jellies  and  preserves  replenished,  while  another  mourned 
the  ruin  of  her  carpet,  and  thought  a  new  one  should  be  given  her.  These, 
however,  were  exceptional  cases. 

Several  gentlemen  from  abroad  visited  our  city  during  the  flood,  and  ex- 
pressed themselves  as  highly  pleased  at  the  manner  in  which  the  General  Com- 
mittee transacted  the  vast  amount  of  business  devolving  upon  it.  Sixty-five 
car  loads  of  miscellaneous  supplies  were  received  here.  All  of  this  was  hand- 
led with  despatch  and  regularity.  Sub-committees  to  facilitate  the  work  were 
formed  as  follows : 

No.  1  — Silab  Hrosius,  W.  G.  Brading  and  Chris.  Schaefer  ;  to  take  charge  of 
all  the  provisions  and  commissary  stores,  and  order  same  to  be  loaded  on  the 
relief  boats. 

No.  2. — John  T.  Halliday  and  W.  B.  Trump ;  to  take  charge  of  clothing,  tents, 
boots  and  shoes,  and  dry  goods  generally,  and  ship  the  same  on  the  relief  boats. 

No.  3. — P.  A.  Sanns,  Wm.  Kling  and  S.  A.  Dunbar ;  to  have  charge  of  the 
river  transportation,  charter  boats,  and  discharge  same  when  necessary. 

No.  4. — Frank  Halliday,  James  McClurg  and  W.  H.  McCormick  ;  to  fur- 
nish transportation  for  the  speedy  removal  of  goods  upon  arrival  to  the  delivery 
boats  or  to  the  commissary  depots. 

No.  5. — (j.  H.  McCormick,  W.  G.  Brading  and  C.  H.  Schaefer;  to  judge 
upon  the  merits  of  local  applications  for  relief. 

No.  6. — W.  G.  Fuller,  J.  T.  Halliday  and  J.  M.  Alexander ;  to  receive  and 
decide  upon  foreign  applications  for  relief. 

No.  7.— \V.  G.  Fuller,  J.  T.  Halliday  and  A.  J.  Green  ;  to  direct  the  relief 
steamers  where  to  go  after  being  loaded. 

The  following  steamers  were  chartered  by  the  Relief  Committee  of  Gallipolis: 
Nora  Belle,  Claribell,  New  Era,  B  T.  Enos,  Champion,  Chesapeake,  and 
Lizzie  Johnston.  These  steamers  were  under  tbe  personal  charge  of  the  follow- 
ing gentlemen  :  C  F.  Henking,  S.  H.  Olmsted,  W.  H.  Harvey,  J.  F.  Morgan, 
S.  A.  Dunbar,  D.  H.  B;il<lridge,  A.  J.  Green,  E.  8.  Aleshirp,  M  Molloluui,  A. 
W.  Kerns,  J.  J  Mnxon,  W.  H.  Andrews  J.  T.  Hampton,  J.  W.  (iardm-r  and 
J.  D.  Olin^t'  (I.  FWibly  others  may  have  been  associated  with  these  gentlemen; 
if  so,  we  have  n<,i  their  namt-b. 


120  HISTORY    OF   THE    GREAT    FLOOD    OF    1884. 

The  General  Committee  received  many  demands  for  fuel  and  cattle  feed. 
Upon  making  known  these  wants  two  car  loads  of  ear  corn  were  contributed  by 
citizens  of  Groveport  and  Canal  Winchester,  and  three  cur  loads  of  coal  were 
donated  by  the  Columbus  Relief  Committee.  The  corn  was  placed  in  the 
hands  of  Chas.  I).  Bailey  and  Win.  Cherington  fos  distribution,  and  J.  W. 
(iardner  took  charge  of  the  coal.  The  Relief  Committee  also  purchased  some 
four  thousand  bushels  of  coal,  and  Mr.  Gardner  chartered  the  steamer  New 
Era  to  distribute  same,  which  he  did  in  a  most  effectual  manner.  Upon  refer- 
ence to  the  official  report  it  will  be  seen  the  total  number  of  packages  donated 
to  and  purchased  by  the  Committee  amounted  to  8,749,  and  consisted  of  cloth- 
ing, provisions,  etc.  In  addition  to  this  there  was  received  717  bushels  of  corn 
and  5,3-10  bushels  of  coal. 

Before  closing  this  short  sketch  of  the  work  of  the  Gallipolis  Relief  Com- 
mittee, it  is  but  right  to  note  the  liberality  of  several  corporations  toward  the 
flood  sufferers.  The  Columbus,  Hocking  Valley  &  Toledo  Railway,  al- 
though heavy  losers  by  the  high  water,  transported  sixty-five  car  loads  of  sup- 
plies, free  of  charge;  Adams  Express  Company  forwarded  a  large  amount  of 
freight  upon  the  same  generous  terms,  and  the  Western  Union  Telegraph  Com- 
pany transacted  all  relief  business  gratis.  During  the  first  few  days  of  the 
flood,  the  owners  of  the  steamboats  lying  here  tendered  the  free  use  of  their 
boats  to  the  sufferers  above  and  below  the  city,  and  much  property  was  saved 
by  them.  Notably  among  these  liberal  gentlemen  were  the  Captains  and  own- 
ers of  the  steam  ferry  Champion,  and  steamers  Nora  Belle,  New  Era  and  Jim 
Montgomery.  The  Chesapeake,  Claribell,  B.  T.  Enos,  Boone  and  Luella  also 
assisted  the  Committee  by  tree  transportation  of  supplies.  The  tow-boat  Vet- 
eran No.  2  tendered  her  barges  for  the  use  of  persons  who  had  been  driven 
from  their  homes. 

For  a  few  days  the  trains  on  our  road  could  not  come  into  Gallipolis,  and 
were  obliged  to  slop  at  Mills  Station,  some  four  miles  back  of  the  city,  where 
P.  B.  Pritchett,  Chief  of  the  Gallipolis  Fire  Department,  assisted  by  the  tire- 
men,  loaded  the  supplies  upon  the  steamer  New  Era,  and  thus  the  goods  were 
brought  in.  The  Fire  Brigade  deserve  great  credit  for  their  arduous  work. 
It  is  a  gratifying  fact  that  all  the  people  of  Gallipolis,  with  the  exception  of 
two  or  three,  gave  of  their  means  and  labor,  and  entered  heart  and  soul  into  the 
good  work  of  relieving  their  distressed  brothers.  At  an  early  meeting  of  the 
Relief  Committee  it  was  resolved,  by  a  unanimous  vote,  that  no  member  of 
the  Committee,  or  of  any  of  the  sub-committees,  should  receive  pay  for  any 
work  they  might  do  and  this  rule  was  rigidly  adhered  to.  The  work  of  a 
committeeman  was  not  an  enviable  position.  From  mornin?  till  late  at  night, 
for  three  weeks,  it  was  hard  work  ;  goods  were  pouring  in  from  abroad  and 
these  required  looking  after ;  they  were  to  be  assorted  and  distributed.  Many 
times  a  relief  boat,  returning  from  a  trip  during  the  night,  the  Committte  in 
charge  would  report  so  much  suffering  that  those  in  charge  of  the  depots 
would  be  aroused  from  their  beds,  to  load  the  steamer,  and  by  morning  she 
would  be  on  her  way  to  cheer  the  desponding  hearts  of  the  flood-stricken 
people. 

The  following  telegrams  and  letters  will  show  what  the 
outside  world  has  done  "  for  sweet  charity's  sake  :  " 

COLUMBUS,  OHIO,   February  12'h.  1884. 

W.  G.  Fuller,  Chairman  Relief  Committee,  Galipolix,  <).  : — Our  people  are 
coming  forward  with  subscriptions  in  money,  clotliinn  and  food  mmit'iilly  :  \ve 
sent  full  car  of  provisions  this  morning,  and  another  far  load  cl.>t Iniiir  and 
provisions  this  afternoon,  forwarded  from  Logan.  First  car  load  now  at  Mills 
Station.  M.  M.  ( .jti-KXi-:. 


HISTORY    OF   THE    GREAT   FLOOD    OF    1884.  121 

CLEVELAND,  OHIO,  February  12th,  1884. 

Board  of  Trade,  Gallipolis,  0.  .-—Shipped  your  Relief  Committee  car  of  bread 
und  provisions,  per  American  Express,  this  A.  M. 

BOARD  OF  TRADE  OF  CLEVELAND. 

LANCASTER,  OHIO,  February  12th,  18F4. 

Mayor  Gallipolis,  O.  : — Have  transportation  at  Kerrs  for  six  tons  supplies  this 
3P.  M.     Left  Columbus  8  A.  M.  E.  A.  FITCH. 


LANCASTER,  OHIO,  February  10th,  1884. 

Mayor  Gallipolis  : — Have  sent  you  bread  and  meat  by  passenger  train  this 
morning.  Will  repeat  to-morrow  morning.  S.  W.  RAINEY,  Mayor. 

XENIA,  OHIO,  February  12th,  1884. 

Allemong  &  Henking,  Gallipolis  : — Give  $50  in  provisions  to  late  sufferers  and 
charge  same  to  us.  MARINE  POWDER  COMPANY. 

CANAL  WINCHESTER,  OHIO,  February  12th,  1884. 

E.  A.  Fitch,  Gallipolw  : — Will  send  to-morrow  morning  full  car  load  bread, 
boiled  hams  and  uncooked  provisions,  bedding  and  clothing,  and  more  to 
lollow  soon.  O.  P.  CHANEY. 


MANSFIELD,  OHIO,  February  12th,  1884. 

George  House,  Gallipolis: — Have  your  Relief  Committee  advise  what  is  most 
needed  to  supply  immediate  wants.  L.  J.  BONAR. 

COLUMBUS,  OHIO,  February  llth,  1884. 

Allemong  &  Henking,  Gallipolis: — Public   meeting   will   be   Ifeld   tonight  to 
assist  flood  sufferers.  W.  Y.  MILES. 


LOGAN,  OHIO,  February  12th,  1884. 

Mayor  Gallipolis  and  Relief  Committee  : — Our  people  have  contributed  two 
•car  loads  provisions  to-day.  Have  boats  ready  to  receive  when  train  arrives. 

G.  W.  BREHM,  Mayor. 

COLUMBUS,  OHIO,  February  llth,  1884. 

Mayor  and  President  City  Council,  Gallipolis: — Meeting  of  citizens  at  Colum- 
bus now  being  held.  We  will  send  to-morrow  by  passenger  train  2,POO  loaves 
bread,  2,500  pounds  cooked  hams,  2,500  pounds  uncooked  hams,  1  barrel  cooked 
pork,  1  barrel  butter,  1  barrel  coffee,  besides  donations  from  Logan,  McArthur, 
and  other  towns.  I  stated  to  the  meeting  that  in  my  judgment  supplies  should 
go  forward  daily  until  the  people  that  could  be  reached  were  all  cared  for, 
which  would  be  for  many  days  and  perhaps  weeks.  Our  road  will  carry  sup- 
plies for  the  suffering  free.  You  will  need  to  arrange  for  transfer  from  Kerrs 
lor  several  tons  of  provisions  on  arrival  of  our  train,  Tuesday  afternoon,  with 
Chairman  of  Committee  appointed,  who  is  P.  W.  Huntinjjton,  to  whom  I 
should  suggest  you  would  inform  by  telegraph  the  things  most  wanted,  as  they 
may  be  able  to  procure  them  here  quicker  than  you  can  elsewlinv. 

M.  M.  GREENE. 

LANCASTFR,  OHIO,  February  13th,  1884. 

E.  A  Fitch,  Gallipolis: — Have  sent  flour  this  morning.  Will  send  more  to- 
morrow morning.  JOHN  D.  MARTIN. 

'  CANAL  DOVER.  OHIO,  February  13th,  1884. 

E.  A.  Fitch:— Sent  13  barrels  flour  this  A.  M.  Will  send  10  burn-Is  this 
•evenitig  ;  will  also  start  another  car  provisions  in  A.  M.  COMMITTEE. 


1--  HISTORY    OF   THE    GREAT   FLOOD    OF   1884. 

COLUMBUS,  Oino,  February  13th,  1884. 

TP.  G.  Fuller,  Gallipolia  : — You  will  have  at  least  two  car  loads  on  No.  1  to- 
day. Wil  have  f  ill  car  from  Cleveland  to-day  that  will  go  forward  on  No.  3 
this  afternoon.  Our  pe  >ple  are  fully  aroused,  and  are  making  under-clothing 
for  women  and  children.  All  have  been  advised  to  continue  the  good  work 
until  advice  that  wants  are  supplied.  M.  M.  GREENE. 

COLUMBUS,  OHIO,  February  13th,  1884. 

E.  A.  Fitch: — Children's  clothing  and  flour  shipped  this  p  M.,  other  provis* 
ions  also.  Keep  me  posted  as  to  what  you  want.  P.  W.  HUNTINGTON. 

MIDDLETON,  OHIO,  February  13th,  1884. 

Mayor  of  Gallipolis : — How  can  we  get  provisions  to  you  ?     Answer  quick. 

REV.  E.  A.  INCE. 

WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  February  13th,  1884. 

Mayor  of  Gallipolis : — You  are  authorized  to  purchase  and  distribute  subsistence- 
stores,  clothing,  and  other  necessary  articles  to  persons  made  destitute  by  the 
flood,  within  your  reach,  to  an  amount  not  exceeding  $1,000.  Careful  records 
of  purchases  should  be  kept  to  enable  Department  officers  to  adjust  account* 
when  they  can  be  sent.  You  will  be  required  to  give  officers  your  r.ceipts  for 
stores,  and  act  as  agent  for  this  department  for  the  distribution.  Please  advise 
me  by  wire  the  number  of  destitute,  and  whether  purchases  can  be  made  in 
your  locality.  KOBT.  T.  LINCOLN,  Sec'y  of  War. 

[The  above  amount  was  afterwards  increased  by  the  Secretary  of  War  to- 
$16,<  00.] 

WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  February  13th. 

Hon.  J.  M.  Alexander,  Mayor  Oallipolis,  0. : — I  am  glad  to  hear  of  the  work 
you  are  doing  from  your  city,  and  your  own  action  is  perfectly  satisfactory. 
All  that  will  be  finally  needed  will  be  your  receipt  to  the  proper  army  officer 
for  the  supplies  for  which  he  will  pay.  I  will  not  ask  for  the  details  of  the 
further  distribution  of  them.  You  are  authorized  to  purchase  additional  sup- 
plies of  the  same  character  as  mentioned  in  my  first  dispatch,  to  the  extent  of 
$5,000.  I  will  be  glad  to  be  advised  by  you  from  time  to  time  of  the  situation. 

ROBERT  T.  LINCOLN, 

Secretary  of  War. 

WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  February  15th. 

Mayor  Gallipolis: — Your  telegram  of  this  date  received.  I  am  much  gratified 
at  statement  of  work  being  done  from  your  city.  In  addition  to  former  amounts- 
authorized  to  you,  you  are  authorized  to  expend  $5,000  for  the  relief  of  those 
made  destitute  by  the  flood.  EGBERT  T.  LINCOLN, 

Secretary  of  War. 

COLUMBUS,  O.,  February  13th. 

E.  S  Aleshire,  Gallipolis,  Ohio: — Mclntyre  &  Wardwell,  of  New  York  city,, 
send  sympathy  and  $50,  which  I  give  to  the  Belief  Committee  here. 

A.  W.  THURMAN. 

PHILADELPHIA,  PA.,  Februaiy  12th. 

Mayor  Gallipots : — Draw  on  us  for  $1,000  for  relief  of  suffering  at  Middleportv 
Point  Pleasant,  and  neighboring  places.  I)REXEL  &  Co., 

Treas.  Western  Flood  Relief  Funds. 

GENOA,  O.,  February  14. 

Mayor  Gallipolis: — What  kind  of  cooked  rations  are  your  people  most  in  need 
of?  Our  people  are  donating  liberally.  Answer  quick. 

F.  O.  WYMAN,  Chairman  Relief  Committee. 


HISTORY    OF    THE    GKKAT    FLOOD    OF    1884.  123 

CLEVELAND,  February  14th. 

Chairman  Relief  Committee: — Sent  you  yesterday  one  car  provisions,  ami  will 
send  another  car  provisions,  blankets,  clothing,  and  shoes  for  children  to-night. 
What  points  in  your  vicinity  are  most  needy,  and  what  facilities  have  you  for 
distributing  supplies?  Do  you  need  women's  clothing?  Tell  me  what  sup- 
plies are  most  needy.  Answer  at  once.  X.  X.  CRUM, 

Sec'y  Relief  Com.  of  Board  of  Trade. 


NEW  YORK,  February  12th. 

J.  M  Alexander,  Mayor  Gullipolis : — Draw  on  H.  C.  Maddox,  87  Front  St., 
Treasurer  Relief  Committee  of  Coffee,  and  Importers'  and  Grocers'  Exchange, 
for  $250.  Have  sent  Portsmouth  $300  and  Pomeroy  $500.  Send  names  of 
Mayors  or  responsible  parties  most  in  need  of  help. 

A.  WAKF.MAN,  Chairman. 

BALTIMORE,  MD.,  February  14. 

J.  M.  Alexander,  Mayor  Gallipolis: — I  shipped  you  yesterday  a  lot  of  blankets 
and  $50  cash.  WM.  H.  LOVE,  Secretary. 

GREIWFIELD,  O.,  February  15. 

Prof.  Hard,  Gallipot^ : — We  ship  you  fifteen  mattresses  for  the  sufferers,  and 
hope  to  send  you  more.  See  that  they  are  given  where  most  needed.  The  friend 
of  man  is  the  friend  of  God.  TANK.  KEE. 

[Tank  Kee,  the  celebrated  Chinese  lecturer,  made  still  further  shipments  of 

mattresses,  flour,  and  medicines.] 

NEWARK,  O.,  February  16. 

To  the  Hon.  Mayor,  Gallipolis: — We  have  this  day  turned  over  to  our  Relief 
Committee,  for  Ohio  Kiver  sufferers,  one  good  cooking  stove,  packed  and  ad- 
dressed to  you.  We  wish  that  you  will  be  so  kind  and  turn  the  same  over  to 
some  good  and  poor  family  that  is  in  need  of  it.  We  would  very  much  like  to 
hear  of  the  receipt  of  this  stove,  and  with  our  sympathy,  we  are  respectfully, 

MOSER  &  WEHRLE. 


PHILADELPHIA,  PA.,  February  14. 

J.  M.  Alexander: — Draw  on  us  for  $2,000,  additional,  for  relief  of  flood  suf- 
ferers in  your  vicinity.  DRKXKL  &  Co., 

Treas.  Western  Relief  Fund. 


CATSKILL,  N.  Y..  February  15. 

Dear  Sir: — Enclosed  find  check  for  $25,  which  please  place  where  it  will  do 
the  most  good.  J.  A.  CARTER. 

LOGAN,  O.,  February  14. 

John  L.  Vance: — Logan  will  give  house  room  and  take  care  of  one  hundred 
and  more  of  your  destitute  people.  Will  you  send  them,  and  when? 

LEWIS  GREEN,  J.  M.  FLOYD, 

GEORGE  BREUM,  Relief  Committee. 

LOGAN,  O..  February  M. 

John  L.  Vance: — Mr.  Houston,  of  the  furniture  company,  U'ndt-rs  their  entire 
building — heated  by  steam — with  three  hundred  cots,  to  our  c  •inmittee,  and  re- 
ports accommodation  proffered  for  five  hundred.  Car  provinioiis  from  Logan 
gent  to-night;  more  to  follow.  LEWIS  GREEN,  Relief  Committee. 

BALTIMORE,  VD.,  February  14 

J.   M.   Alexander,  Mayor:—  Have  sent  you  to-day,  via  It.  &  <>    cxpnss,  >l.">u 

WM.  II.  LOVKKI-  <;. 


124  HISTORY    OF   THE    GREAT   FLOOD    OF    1884. 

BOSTON,  MASS.,  February  14. 

Mayor  Gallipolis: — Draw  on  S.  F.  Wilkins,  cashier  Howard  National  Bank, 
for  Sl'.OOO.  A.  P.  MARTIN,  Mayor  Boston. 

NEW  YORK,  February  14. 

Hon.  J.  M.  Alexander,  Mayor  Gallipolis: — I  have  received  yo'ir  telegram  of 
the  13th.  Our  exchanges  have  organized  to-day  for  more  effective  woik.  I 
hereby  authorize  you  to  draw  on  me  at  sight  for  $2,000. 

FRANKLIN  EDSON,  Mayor. 

CARROLL,  ().,  February  14. 

Relief  Committee,  Gallipolis  : — We  send  you  by  train  No.  J  lour  wagon  loads  of 
provisions,  etc.  Will  you  see  that  it  is  properly  distributed  ?  We  sentyou  some 
provisions  on  Wednesday,  marked  from  Carroll;  also  sent  you  500  loaves  of 
bread  from  Lancaster.  Did  you  get  it?  Answer.  S.  M.  BRIGHT. 

URBANA,  O.,  February  14. 

Belief  Committee,  Gallipolis: — Have  sent,  per  express,  a  number  of  boxes  and 
barrels,  containing  bedding  and  clothing.  More  to  follow. 

T.  G.  KELLER,  Sec'y. 

URBANA,  O.,  February  16. 

Chairman  Relief  Committee,  Gallipolis: — We  ship  you  to-day  (Adams  Ex- 
press), four  boxes  meat,  two  barrels  coffee  and  chest  tea,  one  box  groceries, 
seven  b  >xes  clothing  and  bedding,  two  boxes  new  goods,  made  by  ladies  here. 
More  to  come.  C.  H.  GAUSHEN,  Chairman  Relief  Com. 


BALTIMORE,  February  15. 

To  Mayor  Gallipolis: — Draw  on  me  for  benefit  of  suflvrers  by  flood,  for  $/50. 

J.  R.  BLAND,  Secretary. 

BALTIMORE,  February  15. 

Mayor  Gallipolis: — Draw  on  us  for  $187  for  relief  of  sufferers.     This  is  in 
addition  to  the  $200  sent  to-day.  FERDINAND  D.  LATROBE. 

ORANGE,  N.  J.,  February  13. 

Mayor  Gallipolis : — Enclosed  please  find  my  check  for  $5,  for  benefit  of  suf- 
ferers by  the  flood.  THEO.  F.  REWARD. 

LKWISTOWN,  PENN.,  February  14. 

Hutchinson  &  Baldridge,  Gallipolis: — Please  pay  $25  to  the  Relief  Committee 
of  Gallipolis,  and  charge  to  our  account.  WM.  MANN,  JR.,  &  Co. 


XENIA,  O.,  February  14. 

Kerr  Bros.,  Gallipolis: — Gentlemen,  I  hand  you  my  check  for  $o,  towards  as- 
sisting the  distressed  of  your  vicinity.  My  mite  is  small,  but  I  send  lht>  *;uu« 
amount  to  many  other  river  towns.  J.  THOMAS  HARBINE. 

ORANGE,  N.  J..  February  13. 

J.  M.  Alexander,  Mayor — Dear  Sir:  A  box  from  Grace  Church,  Orange,  hae 
been  sent  to  Gallipolis,  directed  to  you,  by  the  ladies  of  the  Parish,  who  had  as- 
certained your  name,  but  did  not  know  that  of  the  pastor  of  the  Episcopal 
Church,  who  they  wish  to  distribute  the  articles  of  relief  to  sufferers  from  the 
flood.  Will  you  be  good  enough  to  notify  Rev.  Moncure  of  the  arrival  of  the 
box,  and  let  him  have  the  distribution  thereof. 

Yours,  for  the  ladies  of  Grace  Church, 

A.  SCHUYLEH,  Rector. 


HISTORY    OF   THE    GREAT    FLOOD    OF   1884.  125- 

BALTIMORE,  February  15. 

Mayor  Gallipolis : — Expend  $200  for  relief  of  sufferers,  and  draw  on  me  for 
amount.  FERDINAND  O.  LATROBE,  Mayor  of  Baltimore. 

BROOKLYN,  N.  Y.,  February  15. 

Hon.  J.  M.  Alexander,  Gallipolis: — Brooklyn  sends  to  day,  through  me,  $219, 
in  response  to  your  dispatch.  SETH  Low,  Mayor. 

NEW  YORK,  February  15. 
J.  M.  Alexander,  Mayor  Gallipolis : — I  send  you  to-day,  by  telegram,  $10. 

RANDOLPH  BRANDT. 
> 

NORWICH,  CONN.,  February  16th,  1884. 

Hon.  J.  M.  Alexander,  Mayor  Gallipolis  : — Enclosed  piease  find  check  for  $200, 
a  contribution  from  one  of  our  citizens  to  assist  you  in  your  great  want,  and 
hoping  I  may  have  the  pleasure  of  adding  more  in  a  few  days. 

H.  H.  OSGOOD. 

LONDON,  N.  H.,  February  16th,  1884. 

Mayor  Gallipolit : — I  enclose  f 5  to  be  applied  at  your  discretion  to  the  relief 
of  sufferers  from  flood  in  your  section.  P.  S.  JOHN. 

NEW  YORK,  February  16th,  1884. 

Union  Trust  Company  : — Pay  to  the  order  of  J.  M.  Alexander,  Mayor,  $200. 
LAURA  A.  DELANO,  for  the  sufferers  by  the  flood. 

CONCORD,  N.  H.,  February  18th,  1884. 

Mayor  Alexander,  Gallipolis  : — Draw  on  me  for  $200,  given  by  citizens  of 
Concord,  for  your  Relief  Fund.  EDGAR  H.  WOODMAN,  Mayor. 

MIDDLETOWN,  OHIO,  February  16th,  1884. 

Mayor  Alexander,  Gallipolis  : — Twenty -nine  barrels  provisions  were  shipped^ 
to  your  address  yesterday,  and  more  to  follow.  KEY.  E.  A.  INCE. 

BOSTON,  February  16th,  1884. 

J.  M.  Alexander,  Mayor  : — Have  ordered  shipped  from  New  York  to-dav,  by 
American  Express,  two  cases  ot  blankets  from  funds  subscribed  by  Boston  wool 
merchants  for  relief  of  suffering.  For  the  Committee. 

A.  A.  BLANCHARD,  Treasurer. 

WEST  LIBERTY,  OHIO,  February  14th,  1884. 

To  (he  Hon.  Mayor  Gallipolis,  0., — Dear  Sir: — Enclosed  please  find  P.O. 
order  for  $1 1.88,  which  you  will  please  hand  to  the  Relief  Committee  for  the  suf- 
fering in  your  vicinity.  It  ie  the  offering  of  the  school  children  of  this  place. 
May  God  bless  you  all,  is  their  prayer.  Very  respectfully. 

R.  W.  LAWRENCE,  Snpt. 

HARTFORD,  TONN.,  February  16,  1884. 
Mayor  Gallinolis  .—Draw  on  me  for  $250.  W.  G.  BULKLEV,  Mayor. 

RICHMOND,  VA.,  February  18th,  1884. 

E.  S.  Aleshire,  Gallipolii: — If  we  send  car  load  supplies  to  HtmtiiiKton,  will 
your  Kelief 'Committee  send  some  one  to  receive  and  distribute  it  among 
the  flood  sufferers  along  the  Ohio  River,  between  Huntington  tun!  Pomer<«y» 
where  most  needed.  B.  S.  i'lTr-u 

C.  H.  SiMi-.sox. 

This  dispatch  was  answered  as   follows:     Yes ;  will   glailly   do   it. 
needed.  fi.  8. 


123  IIISTORV    OF   THE    GREAT   FLOOD    OF    1884. 

NEW  YORK,  February  18th,  !8S1. 
J.  M.  Alexander,  Gallipolia : — Draw  on  us  for  foO.          ARBUCKLE  linos. 

CHICKOPEE,  MASS.,  February  14ih,  1884. 

Manor  Gallipolia  : — Herewith  find  enclosed  bank  check  for  $10,  which  I  hoj'e 
may  be  placed  where  it  will  do  the  most  good.  JOHN  W.  POST. 

RECTORY  ST.  PAUL'S  CHURCH,  \ 

BALTIMORE,  February  19,  1884.  / 

J.  M.  Alexander,  Mayor  GaJJipolis: — I  have  to-day  forwarded  by  B.  &  O.  R. 
R.,  to  your  address,  '2  boxes  clothing,  sent  by  members  of  my  congregation,  for 
distribution  among  the  sufferers  by  the  recent  Hood,  trusting  that  they  may  be 
useful.  1  am  sincerely  yours,  J.  J.  B.  HODGES,  Hector. 

IIoostCK  FALLS,  N.  Y.,  February  20th,  1884. 

Messrs.  Jas.  Vanden  &  Son,  Gallipolis,  0. — Gentlemen: — We  take  pleasure  in 
handing  you  herewith  draft  for  $50,  which  please  accept  as  our  contribution 
toward  the  relief  of  the  sufferers  by  the  recent  flood  in  your  district. 

We  gather  from  the  newspapers  that  the  flood  is  receding,  and  we  trust  that 
the  suffering  is  being  rapidly  allayed. 

Sympathizing  most  deeply  with  your  people  in  the  calamity  which  has  over- 
taken them,  we  remain,  Very  truly  yours, 

WALTER  A.  WOOD,  Pres't  Mowing  and  Reaper  Machine  Co. 

By  D.  H.  VALENTINE. 

TERRY  VILLAGE,  MAINE,  February  16th,  1884. 

Mayor  Gallipolia  : — Enclosed  find  $5  to  aid  sufferers  by  the  flood.  I  know  of 
no  one  near  who  is  collecting  anything,  and  this  address  I  find  in  a  newspaper. 

Yours  truly,  EMMA  E.  FOSTER. 

RICHBURG,  N.  Y.,  February  18th,  1884. 

Hon.  J.  M.  Alexander,  Gallipolia : — Enclosed  find  draft  for  $51.55,  raised  by 
subscription  for  benefit  of  flood  sufferers.  We  also  send  a  box  of  clothing  to 
your  address.  MRS.  J.  A  LYON, 

Richburg,  Allegheny  Co.,  N.  Y. 

BALTIMORE,  MD.,  February  20. 

J.  M.  Alexander,  Mayor  Gallipolia: — Draw  on  me  for  relief  of  sufferers  by 
flood  for  an  additional  sum  of  $400.  JOHN  R.  BLAND, 

Merchants'  and  Manufacturers'  Association. 


BROOKLYN,  N.  Y.,  February  19. 

Hon.  J.  M.  Alexander,  Mayor  Gallipolia: — Herewith  find  check  for  $107.99, 
being  received  by  the  Mayor  of  Brooklyn  to-day,  for  sufferers  by  the  flood  in 
your  neighborhood.  Very  truly,  FRANKLIN  ALLEN. 

DELAWARE,  February  12. 

Fuller,  Hutsinpiller  &  Co.,  Gallipolia : — Tell  your  Relief  Committee  to  dr  aw  on 
us  for  $50.  DELAWARE  CHAIR  Co. 

DUEBER  WATCH  CASE  COMPANY,  ) 
NEWPORT,  KY.,  February  22.      j 

Jules  Roberta,  Gallipolia: — I  enclose  check  for  $100,  part  of  the  sum  collected 
by  UH  for  relief  of  the  flood  sufferers.  Please  divide  this  among  those  in  need 
in  your  city  if  possible.  Use  it  for  provisions,  clothing,  or  fuel. 

JOHN  C.  DUEBER. 

[This  was  turned  over  to  the  Relief  Committee  here,  who  appointed  Mr. 
Roberts  and  John  L.  Guy  a  committee  to  see  that  it  was  properly  distributed.] 


HISTORY    OF   THE    GREAT    FLOOD    OF    1884. 

NEWPORT,  KY.,  February  22. 

Mrs.  William  Shober,  Gallipolis : — Inclose  check  for  $100  of  Jewelers' Kelief 
Fund,  collected  by  me,  which  please  distribute  among  the  flood  sufferers  of 
your  city.  If  possible,  use  it  for  food,  clothing,  or  fuel. 

JOHN  C.  DUEBER. 

[This,  also,  was  turned  over  to  the  Relief  Committee,  who  appointed  Mrs. 
Shober  and  Wm.  Kling  to  see  to  its  proper  distribution.] 

NEW  YORK,  February  23. 

John  A.  Hamilton,  CusAter,  Gallipolis: — We  credit  you  $150,  for  use  of  flood 
sufferers.  WINSLOW,  LANIER  &  Co. 

Accompanying  the  following  was  a  check  for  $50 : 

NEW  YORK,  February  19. 

C-  Fred.  Henking,  Esq.,  Gallipolis,  0. : — Dear  Sir:  We  have  received  the  pa- 
per, and  as  the  writer  has  just  returned  from  a  trip  to  the  Rocky  Mountains, 
can  realize,  somewhat,  the  terrible  ordeal  through  which  your  people  are  pass- 
ing. We  have  heard  the  cry  from  other  points  on  the  river,  and  were  only  too 
glad  that  we  had  bren  blessed  to  be  able  to  help.  Would  do  more  but  for  that. 
With  our  best  regards,  Truly,  DAN  TALMAGE'S  SONS. 

These  are  only  a  very  small  portion  of  the  dispatches  received  ;  to  publish 
all  would  fill  a  large  volume. 

The  following  clipping  from  the  Middleport  Republican^ 
and  letter  from  the  Chairman  of  the  Philadelphia  Relief  Com- 
mittee, testify  that  the  work  of  our  committee  was  fully  ap- 
preciated : 

"  GALLIPOLIS  TO  THE  RESCUE. — Gallipolis  is  high  and  dry,  above  the  highest 
floods,  and  let  us  hope  her  good  citizens  may  always  be  above  the  wave  of  ad- 
versity. On  Monday  afternoon  Councilman  John  Grogan  informed  us  that 
citizens  of  Gallipolis,  hearing  of  our  distress,  had  sent  to  Middleport's  suffer- 
ing citizens,  a  boat  load  of  cooked  provisions,  crackers,  cheese,  hams,  potatoes, 
sacks  of  flour,  etc.,  etc.  These  are  gifts  that  are  more  than  welcome  in  this, 
the  hour  of  our  extreme  necessity.  Best  of  all,  another  boat  load  of  the  same 
kind  was  to  follow  in  about  three  hours.  Mr.  Grogan  authorizes  us,  in  behalf  of 
the  Mayor,  Council,  and  our  suffering  citizens,  to  return  heartfelt  thanks  for  this 
liberal  gift  from  the  citizens  of  our  sister  city.  '  A  touch  of  sorrow  makes  the 
whole  world  kin.'  The  same  boat  brought  the  welcome  news  that  Gallipolis 
would  care  for  one  thousand  of  our  people.  High  water,  thank  the  Lord,  can- 
no^  drown  sympathy/' 

OFFICE  OF  JOSHUA  L.  BAILEY  &  Co.,  ) 
PHILADELPHIA,  March  21,  1884.       j 
Hon.  y.  M.  Alexander,  Mayor,  Gallipolis,  Ohio: 

MY  DEAK  SIR: — I  am  extremely  obliged  for  your  favor  of  the  zoth,  giving 
information  of  great  interest  and  value  to  our  committee.  You  have  indeed 
done  well  for  Syracuse.  It  is  becoming  in  us  to  acknowledge  the  untiring  zeal 
and  fidelity,  as  well  as  the  great  good  judgment  shown  by  yourself  and  your 
colleagues  of  the  Gallipolis  committee,  in  your  care  of  the  sufferers  by  the 
flood,  and  in  the  distribution  of  funds  and  supplies  entrusted  to  your  hands. 

Our  committee  has  recently  made  the  following  appropriations,  "to  aid  in 
rebuilding  or  restoring  the  wrecked  dwellings  of  such  people  as  in  the  judg- 
ment of  the  local  committee  might  be  most  in  need  of  such  assistance — widows, 
the  aged,  and  the  sick,  being  first  considered  " — viz: 


HISTORY    OF   THE    GREAT    FLOOD    OF    1884. 

New  Richmond,  O.,  $1.000;  Jeffersonville,  Ind..  $1,000-  I.awrenceburg,  Ind.,  |i,ooo; 
CatletUburg,  K.V.,  $500;  Augusta,  Kv.,  $500;  Gtiyandotte,  W.  Va.,$50o:  Shawuec-town,  lll.» 
$;ix>;  Zam-sville,  O.,  $500;  total,  $5,500,  and  $3130  of  an  unexpended  balance  at  Pomeroy 
will  be  expended  in  the  same  way. 

\Vc  notice  with  approbation  that  you  contemplate  a  like  appropriation  of  the 
unexpended  funds  in  jour  hands.  It  will  be  a  great  help  to  many  whose 
greatest  loss  has  been  in  the  destruction  of  their  homes. 

Yours  truly,  JOSHUA  L.  BAILEY, 

Chairman  Relief  Committee. 

MARIETTA,  O.,  March  8,  1884. 
Col.  W.  G.  fuller,  Chairman  Gallifolis  Relief  Committee: 

Your  favor  of  5th  inst.  came  duly  to  hand.  Accept  kindest  thanks.  Capt. 
Aleshire  passed  up  this  evening.  We  thank  you  for  calling  his  attention  to  our 
case.  We  are  now  in  every  way  supplied.  ***** 

The  two  trips  of  Steamer  Chesapeake,  under  your  directions,  were"  of  great 
advantage,  and  aided  us  and  other  points,  especially  Harmar,  O.,  and  Williams- 
port,  W.  Va.,  very  much.  *****  Please  accept  for  yourself  and  your 
co-laborers  the  kindest  thanks  of  the  citizens  of  Marietta  for  your  very  kind 
favors.  Very  respectfully,  F.  J.  CUTTER, 

Sec'y-Treas.  Relief  Committee. 

Many  other  equally  kind  references  to  the  committee  might  be  given,  but  it 
is  not  necessary.  The  work  done  shows  for  itself  in  the  following  official  re- 
port and  tabular  statements: 

GALLIPOLIS,  OHIO,  March  25,  1884. 

The  Relief  Committee  of  this  city  takes  great  pleasure  in  submitting  to  the 
public  the  accompanying  reports  and  statements  of  the  work  done  here. 

The  labor  devolving  upon  us  has  been  one  of  love  and  mercy,  and  we  are 
glad  that  our  situation  has  allowed  us  to  act  as  distributing  agents  for  the 
munificent  donations  of  money,  provisions  and  clothing  contributed  by  the  kind 
hearts  of  individuals,  the  liberality  of  corporations,  and  of  our  State  and  Na- 
tional Governments. 

To  one  and  all  we  present,  on  behalf  of  the  sufferers  in  this  large  district, 
comprising  one  hundred  and  eighty  miles  of  the  Ohio  River,  their  hearty  thanks 
for  the  noble  generosity  shown.  W.  G.  FULLER,  Chairman. 

Louis  BAER,  Secretary. 

GALLIPOLIS,  OHIO,  March  20,  1884. 
To  the  Relief  Committee,  Gallifolis,  Ohio: 

GENTS: — Accompanying  this  find  statements  of  the  receipts  and  distribu- 
tion of  donations  to  and  purchases  by  your  committee,  with  explanatory  letter 
of  same.  Yours  respectfully,  S.  BROSIUS, 

W.  G.  BRADING, 
C.  H.  SHAEFFER, 

Committee  No.  I. 
JOHN  T.  HALLIDAY, 

Committee  No.  2. 

RELIEF  COMMITTEE  ROOMS, 
GALLIPOLIS,  OHIO,  March  15,  i884. 
W.  G.  Fuller,  Esq.,  Chairman,  Gallipolis,  Ohio: 

SIR: — Having  been  appointed  to  prepare  statements  of  the  receipts  and  dis 
tribution  of  the  supplies  donated  to,  and  purchased  by  your  committee,  I  have 
now  the  honor  to  submit  the  same  herewith.     Sheet  No.  i  gives  the  number  of 
packages,  and  the  different  classes  of  goods  transported  over  the  Columbus, 
Hocking  Valley  &  Toledo  Railway  from  different  points  ;  the  donations  from 


HISTORY    OF   THE    GREAT   FLOOD    OF    1884.  129 

Richmond,  Va. ;  Cincinnati,  O.,  and  from  this  city,  and  a  statement  of  the  sup- 
plies purchased  from  the  Government  and  Relief  Funds.  I  find  it  impossible 
to  give  credit  to  all  the  cities  from  which  supplies  came,  but  notice  many  of 
them  were  marked  from  Cleveland,  Columbus,  Urbana,  Marysville,  Logan, 
Lancaster,  Groveport,  Canal  Winchester,  Athens,  McArthur,  etc.  Many 
packages  were  marked  especially  for  individuals  living  at  different  towns  upon 
the  Ohio  River,  and  these  were  promptly  forwarded  as  addressed.  The  total 
number  of  packages  (not  including  bushels  of  corn  or  coal),  received  from  all 
sources,  amounted  108,749.  We  shipped  on  chartered  steamers  6,1  n  pack- 
ages; shipped  on  local  packets,  2,622  packages;  orders  filled  at  depots,  1,188 
packages,  making  in  all  9,921  packages. 

The  disparity  in  the  number  of  packages  received  and  those  delivered  is  oc- 
casioned by  unpacking  large  cases,  tierces,  etc.,  and  putting  the  contents  in 
smaller  boxes  and  bundles,  to  fill  requisitions  and  orders. 

Sheet  No.  2  shows  the  receipts  classified  and  condensed. 

No.  l  is  a  statement  of  the  shipments  upon  the  boats  chartered  by  the  Cen- 
tral Committee,  which  shipments  were  distributed  at  different  points  above  and 
below  here.  I  had  detailed  reports  of  some  of  the  committees  in  charge  of  the 
distribution,  but  not  of  all,  so  can  only  give  the  total  amounts  supplied  them 
when  leaving  this  port. 

No.  4  gives  the  number  of  individual  orders  filled  each  day  at  the  clothing 
and  provision  depots.  These  orders  were  given  by  the  committees  organized 
at  the  smaller  towns  and  settlements  above  and  below,  upon  both  sides  of  the 
Ohio,  and  on  the  Kanawha  River,  but  in  near  proximity  to  Gallipolis,  and  sup- 
plies were  issued  to  the  applicants  who  presented  them  to  the  depots  here.  This 
plan  was  found  more  practicable  than  to  send  large  quantities  of  clothing  and 
provisions  to  such  committees  for  distribution. 

No.  5  shows  the  amount  of  goods  given  out  for  labor,  $98. 

No.  6  is  J.  W.  Gardner's  report  of  his  distribution  of  coal  at  different  points 
upon  the  river,  4,140  bushels.  In  addition  to  this,  the  Central  Committee  gave 
out  1,200  bushels,  making  a  total  of  5,340  bushels. 

No.  7  is  the  corn  report  of  Wm.  Cherrington  and  E.  S.  Aleshire,  showing 
717  bushels  received  and  distributed. 

No.  8  gives  the  daily  shipments  on  our  local  packets  upon  requisitions  and 
orders,  amounting  to  2,622  packages. 

Respectfully  submitted,  THEO.  N.  WILSON. 

No.  1. 

GOODS   RECEIVED    FROM   C.,  H.  V.  *  T.  R.  R. 

Meats,  115/4  barrels,  78  boxes;  bread,  205  barrels,  182  boxes;  potatoes,  827  barrels,  365 
bags,  29  boxes;  flour,  106  barrels,  651  quarter-sacks,  1,981  eighth-sacks;  rice,  2  barrels; 
hominy,  29  barrels,  40  sacks;  canned  goods,  92  boxes;  coffee,  39  boxes,  5  barrels;  miscel- 
laneous, 114  boxes,  56  barrels,  16  packages;  provisions,  84  barrels,  134  packages;  cheese,  37 
boxes;  corn  meal,  5  barrels,  152  12-lb.  sacks,  38  6-lb.  sacks;  crackers,  259  barrels,  29  boxes; 
beans,  39  barrels,  13  sacks;  stoves,  3;  tea,  6  boxes;  sugar,  6%  barrels;  molasses,  1  keg; 
soap,  2  boxes;  clothing,  600  boxes.  130  barrels.  177  packages;  blankets,  34  boxes,  3  packages: 
bedding,  32  boxes,  11  barrels,  12  packages;  203  mattresses;  boots  and  shoes,  57  boxes  ana 
nackae'-s:  sundries,  3  packages;  bedsteads,  3;  hats  and  caps,  4  boxes;  8  bed-ticks;  corn, 
717  bushels. 

KKUM  KICHMOND,  Vx. — Flour,  53  barrels;  sugar,  2  barrels;  milk,  2  cases;  coffee,  5 
boxes;  beef,  10  cases;  crackers,  10  boxes;  soda,  1  package;  muslin,  1  package;  tomatoes, 
1  box. 

FROM  CINCINNATI  (per  Steamer  Telegraph).—  Crackeis,  4  boxes;  coffee,  1  box;  hominy, 

1  bbl;  sugar,  }/£  barrel;  rice,  Isack. 

FROM  CITIZENS  OF  GALLIPOLIS. — 19  mattresses,  from  Prof.  Hard;  Scomforts,  Beall  Bros.; 

2  boxes  sundries,  Frank  Cromley;  1  package  clothing,  John  W.  Dages;  2  packagcsclotliing, 
Hy.  Levingston;  1  package  clothing,  Kev.  Mr.  Lewis;  1  box  clothing,  Rev.  Mr.  Moncure. 

SUPPLIES  PUKCHASED  FROM  GOVERNMENT  AND  RELIEF  FUNDS.— Flour.  165  barrels, 
in  barrels  and  sacks;  meat,  22  tons;  beans,  2  barrels,  86  sacks;  sugar,  49  barrels;  tea,  8 
boxes;  coffee,  105  boxes;  hominy,  80  barrels;  rice,  35  barrels;  oat  meal,  7  boxes;  bread, 
9,650  loaves;  baking  powder,  21  boxes;  pepper,  32  boxes;  soap,  85  boxes;  candles,  24  boxes: 
matches,  23  boxes;  brooms,  30  dozen;  boots  and  shoes,  16  cases;  cheese,  47  boxes;  canned 
goods,  24  boxes;  salt,  21  barrels;  fresh  meat, 3,941  pounds;  lard,  14  boxes;  2-busheI  sacks,  80; 
soda,  6  boxes;  stoves,  2;  mattresses,  49;  blankets,  48;  comforts,  7;  coal,  5,340  bushels, 


130 


HISTORY    OF   THE    GREAT   FLOOD    OF   1884. 


No.  2. 

RECAPITULATION    OF   RECEIPTS. 

Meats,  tierces,  boxes  and  barrels. . . .    347 


Bread,  barrels  and  boxes   502 

(.'r.irkcrs.  barrels  and  boxes   302 

Potatoes,  barrels,  bags  and  boxes. . .  .1,221 

Flour,  barrels 734 

Uice,  barrels  and  sacks 38 

Hominy,  barrels  and  sacks 150 

Beans, "barrels  and  sacks 140 

Canned  goods,  boxes 119 

Coftee,  boxes  and  barrels 155 

Tea,  boxes  14 

Sugar,  barrels 68 

Molasses,  kegr 1 

Cheese,  boxes 84 

Corn  meal,  bushels 61 

Oat  meal,  boxes 7 

Baking  powder,  boxes 21 

Pepper,  ooxes 82 

Salt,  barrels 21 

Lard,  cases 14 


Soda,  boxes 7 

Assl'd  provisions,  bbls,  boxes,  etc 178 

Soap,  boxes   86 

Candles,  boxes 24 

Brooms,   dozens  30 

Stoves 5 

Clothing,  boxes,  bbls,  pkgs,  etc 913 

Blankets,  cases  and  pkgs 40 

Bedding        "                  "    55 

Mattresses 271 

Bedticks 8 

Bedsteads   3 

Boots  and  shoes,  cases  and  pkgs 73 

Hats  and  caps,  boxes 4 

Assorted     provisions    and    clothing, 

boxes,  bbls  and  pkgs   191 

Seamless  sacks,  new 80 

Corn,   bushels 717 

Coal,  bushels 5,340 

Meat,  fresh,  Ibs 3,941 


No.  3. 

STATEMENT    OF    NUMBER    OF    PACKAGES    LOADED    ON    STEAMERS    CHARTERED    BY    RELIEF 

COMMITTEE. 

Steamer  Jim  Montgomery,  Feb.  13,  447  pegs ;  Feb.  15,  89  pegs.  Steamer  Champion,  Feb. 
14,  146  pegs  ;  Feb.  16,  35  pegs;  Feb.  17,  133  pegs  ;  Feb.  18,  92  pegs;  Feb.  19,  99.  Steamer 
Nora  Belle,  Feb.  14,  327  pegs  ;  Feb.  15,  435  pegs.  Steamer  Chesapeake,  Feb.  15,  795  pegs  ; 
Feb.  17,  328  pegs;  Feb.  20,  665;  Feb.  22,  979.  Steamer  New  Era,  Feb.  16,  216  pegs. 
Steamer  Claribell,  Feb.  16,  596  pegs  ;  Feb.  19,  263.  Steamer  B.  T.  Enos,  Feb.  16,  189  pegs. 
Steamer  Lizzie  Johnston,  Feb.  26,  277  pegs. 

Totals— Feb.  13,  447  pegs  ;  Feb.  14,  473  pegs  ;  Feb.  15,  1,319  pegs  ;  Feb.  16,  1,036  pegs  ; 
Feb.  17,  461  pegs  ;  Feb.  18,  92  pegs  ;  Feb.  19,  362  pegs  ;  Feb.  20,  665  pegs;  Feb.  22, 979  pegs; 
Feb.  26,  277  pegs.  Grand  total,  6,111  pegs. 


No.  4. 

INDIVIDUAL  ORDERS  FILLED  AT  DEPOTS. 

Feb.  13 — Grocery  Depot,    4  orders. 
Feb.  14 — Grocery  Depot,    8  orders. 

Feb.  18 — Grocery  Depot,  35  orders;  Clothing  Depot,  3  orders. 
Feb.  19 — Grocery  Depot,  15  orders;  Clothing  Depot,  8  orde  s. 
Feb.  21 — Grocery  Depot,  42  orders;  Clothing  Depot,  36  orde  s. 
Feb.  20— Grocery  Depot,  15  orders;  Clothing  Depot,  29  orde  s. 
Feb.  22 — Grocery  Depot,  68  orders;  Clothing  Depot,  31  orde  s. 
Feb.  23— Grocery  Depot,  99  orders;  Clothing  Depot,  31  orde  s. 
Feb.  25— Grocery  Depot,  25  orders;  Clothing  Depot,  23  orders. 
Feb.  26 — Grocery  Depot,  16  orders;  Clothing  Depot.  9  orders. 
Feb.  27 — Grocery  Depot,  18  orders;  Clothing  Di-pot,  13  orders. 
Feb.  28— Grocery  Depot,  28  orders;  Clothing  Depot,  15  orders. 
Feb.  29 — Grocery  Depot,  47  orders;  Clothing  Depot,  25  orders. 
Mar.  1— Grocery  Depot,  63  orders;  Clothing  Depot,  36  orders. 
Mar.  3 — Grocery  Depot,  41  orders;  Clothing  Depot,  30  orders. 
Mar.  4 — Grocery  Depot,  49  orders;  Clothing  Depot,  65  orders. 
Mar.  5 — Grocery  Depot,  113  orders;  Clothing  Depot,  35  orders. 
Mar.  6 — Grocery  Depot,  37  orders;  Clothing  Depot,  55  orders. 
Mar.  7 — Grocery  Depot,  31  orders;  Clothing  Depot,  24  orders. 
Mar.  8— Grocery  Depot,  5  orders;  Clothing  Depot,  11  orders. 
Mar.  10— Grocery  Depot,  8  orders;  Clothing  Depot,  16  orders. 
Mar.  11 — Grocery  Depot,  1  order;  Clothing  Depot,  5  orders. 
Total,  Grocery  Depot,  688  orders;  Clothing  Depot,  500  orders. 

Up  to  the  J6th  relief  was  given  upon  verbal  orders,  principally. 


Total,  38. 

Total,  23. 

Total,  78. 

Total,  44. 

Total,  99. 

Total,  130.    ' 

Total,  48. 

Total,  25. 

Total,  31. 

Total,  43. 

Total,  72. 

Total,  99. 

Total,  71. 

Total,  114. 

Total,  68. 

Total,  92. 

Total,  55. 

Total,  16. 

Total,  24. 

Total,  6. 

Grand  total,  1,188  order*. 


No.  B. 


Goodg  given  out  for  lab.gr  perfprmed.  at  Depots,  upon  grders  issued^  by  memb.era  of  q«m-. 


HISTORY    OF   THE    GREAT   FLOOD    OF    1884.  131 

No.  6. 

GALLIPOLIS,  OHIO,  February  27,  1884. 
To  the  Board  of  Relief  of  Gallifolis,   Ohio: 

GENTLEMEN — By  your  order  I  took  charge  of  the  steamer  New  Era,  and  re- 
ceived at  Carl's  Coal  Works  one  coal  boat,  said  to  contain  1,800  bushels  of  coal, 
then  passed  up  to  Camden  Coal  works,  and  purchased  three  floats,  measured 
for  2,340  bushels;  then  dropped  to  Carl's,  unloaded  floats  and  returned  them, 
and  began  our  labor  of  distributing  the  coal  along  down  the  river,  and  the  fol- 
lowing is  my  distribution  of  the  same: 

Landing.                    Families.  Bus. 

Haskelville 32  655 

Brown's 2  40 

Guthrie's 1  20 

Marks' 2  35 

Geo.  Knight's 3  80 

Jeffjenkin's 2  40 

Crown  City 0  0 

Claud  Shaw's 3  60 

Coal   furnished    steamer    New 

Era,  7  days,  60  bus.  per  day.  420 


Landing.                    Families.  Bus. 

Hudson  Maddy's 2  50 

Addison..    5  75 

ClipperMill 8  100 

Mouth  Raccoon 11  225 

Chambersburg 0  0 

Glenwood 7  175 

Swan  Creek 0  0 

Hannan's 5  105 

Blake's 1  37 

Millersport 66  2,080 


Totals 158    4,217 


Athalia 6         50 

Sayers 2          30 

Total  No.  bushels  coal  distributed 4,217 

Total  No.  families  supplied.       158 

Average  No .  bushels  to  family 26% 

No.  bushels  received  from  Carl's  works 1,800 

No.  bushels  received  from  Camden  works , 2,340 

Total  No.  bushels 4,140 

COST  OF  COAL  AND   EXPENSE  OF  DELIVERING. 

4,140  bus.  coal,  at  5c.  per  bus .• .' (207  00 

One  hand,  6  days,  at  $1.25 7  50 

Extra  labor 7  00 

Shovel  lost     150 

Charter  Steamer  New  Era  (about  7  days),  at  f 25    175  00 

Total  expenditure .- $398  00 

Average  cost  per  bushel,  9  6-10  cents. 

It  would  only  make  a  longer  report,  and  I  will  not  enter  the  names,  only  the 
number  of  families  furnished.  The  committee  could  still  give  out  coal  along 
the  line,  but  I  think  it  unnecessary  to  do  so. 

I  had  calculated  the  cost  of  the  coal  on  the  bank,  in  the  manner  we  was  to 
distribute,  to  be  at  least  twelve  and  a-half  cents  per  bushel,  but  you  see  it  has 
cost  much  less  than  that. 

We  had  heavy  wind  all  the  time,  which  made  it  hard  to  land,  and  the  river 
was  still  high  in  the  willows,  making  it  necessary,  in  nearly  every  instance,  to 
let  go  our  lines  and  hitch  up  our  tow  again,  which  took  time,  and  the  banks 
were  so  muddy  that  we  had  to  take  the  coal  high  up  the  bank;  there  was  so 
much  staging  to  rig,  and  so  few  hands,  that  time  was  necessary,  and  the  work 
of  distributing  could  not  possibly  have  been  done  sooner.  My  measure  over- 
run the  bank  measure  seventy-seven  bushels. 

But  now  it  is  done,  I  believe  it  has  done  more  good  to  more  people  than  any 
equal  amount  of  money  expended  in  relief.  It  was  badly  needed. 

Respectfully  submitted,  J.  W.  GARDNER. 

No.  7. 

CORN   REPORT. 

Ear  corn  received  by  William  Cherington ' 425  bushels. 

Ear  corn  received  by  E.  S.  Aleshire 292       " 

As  per  their  reports 717       " 

All  of  which  was  distributed  to  flood  sufferers,  upon  orders  issued  by  Charles  D.  Bailey, 
committee  in  charge. 


132 


HISTORY    OF   THE    GREAT   FLOOD    OF   1884. 


No.  6. 

SUPPLIES   SKNT  TO   INDIVIDUALS   AND    K  I   1  II  1      COMMITTEES    BY   OUR    LOCAL   PACKETS. 


NAME  OF  FLACK. 

5 

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New  Castle          

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Kumrl's  Landing  

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Point  Pleasant  

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Swan  Creek  

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Hartford  City  

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Portland  

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Rigg's  Landing  

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Pollock's  Landing  

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Wells'   Landing  

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Bush's  Mills     

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3 


HISTORY    OF   THE    GREAT    FLOOD    OF   1884. 


133 


SUPPLIES    SENT   TO    INDIVIDUALS   AND    RELIEF   COMMITTEES — CONTINUED. 


NAME    OF    PLACE. 

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Kennedy's  Landing.... 

Clifton         

114 
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Knight's  Landing  

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Blazer's  Landing  

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King's   Landing  

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Coolville  

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Silver  Run   

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20 

Gallipolis  Central  Relief  Committee: 

GENTLEMEN  : — Your  Committee  No.  3,  on  river  transportation,  have  the 
honor  to  make  the  following  official  report.  We  had  under  charter  the  follow- 
ing Steamers,  viz : 

Steanter  New  Era,  10  days  ®  $35 $350  00 

"            "        "       6  days®  $25  15000 

"            "         "      returning  harg-e 1500 

Steamer  Nora  Belle,  3V£  days  ®  $30 105  00 

"           "        "        2%  days®  $40 10000 

"           "        "        allowed. by  Central  Committee  for  Cheshire 7000 

Steamer  Jim  Montgomery,  4  days  ®  $25      10000 

«'          "  "  trip  to  Point  Pleasant 500 

Steamer  Champion,  5  davs  fte  $25   12500 

"                 ••            extra  allowed  by  Central  Committee 175  (X) 

Steamer  Claribell,  1%  days  (it  $35 52  50 

"               "          2»|  days  (gi  $35     87  50 

Steamer  Chesapeake,  11  days  ®  $25,  for  use  of  boat,  the  committee  to  pay 

all  additional  expenses 275  00 

One  large  skiff  to  aid  New  Era 2500 

Total,  not  including  "  Chesapeake  "  expenses 

Also  does  not  include  coal  and  other  expenses  of  the  boats. 

Respectfully  submitted, 


$515  00 

27500 
10500 
300  00 
140  00 

275  00 
2500 


$1,635  00 


P.  A.  SANNS, 
WM.  KLING, 
S.  A.  DUKBAR, 

Committee. 


GALLIPOLIS,  OHIO,  March  20,  1884. 
Relief  Committee,  Gallipolis,  Ohio: 

GENTLEMEN: — Sub-Commiltee  No.  6  hereby  reports  to  your  honorable 
body  that  they  have  discharged  the  duties  devolving  upon  them  to  the  best  of 
their  ability. 


134  HISTORY    OK    TIIK    GREAT    FLOOD    OF    1884. 

The  dissatisfaction  and  strife  among  the  people  at  several  points  where  needed 
food  and  clothing  were  distributed  by  us  as  impartially  as  circumstances  would 
admit,  and  the  formation  of  new  Relief  Committees  at  or  near  the  same  locality 
by  dis?*tisfied  parties,  have  caused  much  trouble  and  annoyance. 

Mr.  John  T.  Halliday  devoted  most  of  his  valuable  time  to  the  arduous  duties 
of  this  committee.  We  would  make  special  mention  of  the  unceasing  labor, 
night  and  day,  of  Mr.  Silas  Brosius  and  Chris.  Schafer,  of  Committee  No.  i, 
and  J.  T.  Halliday  and  W.  B.  Trump,  of  Committee  No.  2,  in  arranging  and 
filling  the  requisitions  of  this  committee. 

W.  G.  FULLER,  Ch'm. 
J.  M.  ALEXANDER, 
JOHN  T.  HALLIDAY. 


GALLIPOLIS,  OHIO,  March  20,  1884. 
Relief  Committee,  Gallipolis,  Ohio: 

GENTLEMEN: — Sub-Committee  No.  7  submit  the  following  report:  On  Fri- 
day, February  8  and  9,  the  Steamer  Champion,  Capt.  J.  J.  Maxon,  did  much 
valuable  service  saving  stock  and  other  property  in  the  bottoms,  near  our  city. 

Saturday,  February  9,  the  Champion  took  provisions  to  Point  Pleasant,  W. 
Va.,  and  on  the  loth  the  Champion  and  Telephone  took  supplies  to  Point 
Pleasant,  and  C.  Fred.  Henking  and  S.  H.  Olmsted  were  sent  on  Steamer 
Nora  Belle  to  Pomeroy  and  intermediate  places  with  provisions,  and  word  to 
the  people  that  Gallipolis  was  providing  cooked  food,  which  would  follow  at 
once.  On  Monday,  the  nth,  the  Steamers  Jim  Montgomery  and  New  Era,  were 
chartered,  and  2,500  loaves  of  bread  and  other  supplies  were  sent  to  Pomeroy 
and  intermediate  points,  W.  H.  Harvey,  S.  A.  Dunbar,  F.  Morgan,  and  D.  H. 
Baldridge  as  committee  of  distribution.  Monday  evening  the  Jim  Mont- 
gomery was  again  loaded  with  all  the  supplies  that  could  be  gathered  in  our 
city ;  4,000  loaves  of  bread,  300  pounds  of  cooked  corned  beef,  600  pounds  of 
cheese,  50  cooked  hams,  500  pounds  of  crackers,  with  coffee,  sugar,  etc.,  con- 
tributions of  the  people  of  Gallipolis. 

The  Steamer  New  Era,  in  charge  of  P.  B.  Prichett,  Chief  of  our  Fire  De- 
partment, was  sent  five  miles  out  over  the  Chickamauga  bottoms  to  the  rail- 
road at  Womeldorff's  Farm,  to  await  supplies  coming  by  railroad.  The  first 
car  load  from  Me  Arthur  and  Logan  arriving  Tuesday  afternoon,  Feb.  I2th. 
These  supplies  were  the  same  night  loaded  on  the  Steamer  Jim  Montgomery 
for  her  third  trip  to  Pomeroy,  A.  J.  Green,  of  the  General  Committee,  going 
in  charge. 

From  this  time  the  Steamer  New  Era  was  kept  employed  bringing  stores 
from  the  railroad  until  the  flood  subsided,  and  Ihe  road  repaired  so  that  trains 
could  reach  the  city  depot,  and  Steamers  Champion,  Jim  Montgomery,  Nora 
Belle,  Claribell,  and  Chesapeake,  were  employed  distributing  the  supplies  at  all 
points  from  Portsmouth,  Ohio,  to  Marietta,  Ohio,  on  both  sides  of  the  river, 
and  up  the  Kanawha  River,  under  committees  of  the  following  gentlemen,  who 
were  changed  about  to  suit  the  convenience  of  the  work  and  the  gentlemen, 
the  services  being  entirely  gratuitous  :  A.  J.  Green,  S.  A.  Dunbar,  W.  H. 
Harvey,  D.  A.  Baldridge,  Capt.  Frank  Morgan,  E.  S.  Aleshire,  A.  W.  Kerns, 
J.  J.  Maxon,  John  T.  Hampton,  W.  H.  Andrews,  M.  Mollohan,  James  W. 
Gardner.  The  Chesapeake  volunteered  two  days  without  charge,  and  the 
Steamer  B.  T.  Enos  distributed  supplies  below,  under  A.  W.  Kerns,  free  of 
charge  for  freight  or  passage  of  the  committee. 

Respectfully,  W.  G.  FULLKR,  Chairman, 

JOHN  T.  HALLIDAY, 
A.  J.  GREEN. 


HISTORY    OF   THE    GREAT    FLOOD    OF    1884.  135 

MAYOR'S  OFFICE,  GALLIPOLIS,  O.,  March  10,  1884. 
To  the  General  Relief  Committee,  Gallipolis,  Ohio: 

GENTLEMEN  : — I  have  expended  in  purchasing  relief  supplies  for  your  com- 
mittee, the  sum  of  thirteen  thousand  five  hundred  and  twenty-three  dollars  and 
seventy-two  cents  ($13,523.72)  from  the  amount  appropriated  by  the  United 
States  Government,  vouchers  for  which  have  been  transmitted  to  the  Hon. 
Robert  T.  Lincoln,  Secretary  of  War. 

Yours  respectfully,  J.  M.  ALEXANDER,  Mayor. 


SUBSCRIPTIONS   TO   RELIEF    FUNDS. 
(From  the  books  of  Louis  Baer,  Treasurer.) 

Private  subscription  in  city $49630 

Advances  made  on  supplies  purchased  and  returned  from  Gov't  appr. . . .  547  70 

Advances  made  on   incidental  expenses,  and   returned  to  Treasurer  as 

not  expended 34  08 

Proceeds  of  potatoes  sold 72  10 

Proceeds  of  boxes  sold 2  38 

Through  Fuller  Hutsinpiller  &  Co. — 

From  New  York   5000 

"      Delaware  Chair  Co 5000 

"      Chicago,Varnish  Co  2500          12500 

Drummer's  Concert.    22945 

Tlnough  Hutcninson  &  Baldridge — 

From  Win.  Mann,  Jr 25  00 

Through  Alleiuong  &  Henking — 

From  Maddux  Bros.,  New  York 30000 

"      John  Kane  &  Co.,  Zanesville,  Ohio 15  00 

'•       Dan  Ta  I  mage's  Sons,  New  York 50  00 

"       Miami  Powder  Co 5000          41500 

Through  John  Dages  &  Co. — 

From  Boston,  Mass 100  00 

"       Worchcster,  Mass 2500          12500 

From  D.  Baldridge   (contributor) 1  00 

'•       Ohio  State  Uelief  Fund 1,000  00 

"      E.  S.  Aleshi  re    (boat  fares)  5  25 

"       F.  D.  Berridge,  Richmond 2  75 

"      J.  Thos.  Harbine,  Xenia,  0 5  00 

Through  James  Vanden  &  Son — 

From  W.  A.  Wood,  Hoosick  Falls,  N.  Y 50  00 

Through  First  N-itional  Bank,  Gallipolis — 

From  Winslow,  Lanier&Co.,  N.  Y 150  00 

Through  John  T.  Halliday— 

From  Siloam  Neighborhood  Church 15  00 

1884.     Through  J.  M.  Alexander,  Mayor  of  Gallipolis— 

Feb.  13.  From  Philadelphia  1,000  00 

13.  "       New  York 250  00 

14.  "      Philadelphia 2,000  00 

15.  "      New  York ,. 2,00000 

15.      "       Boston     : 1,00000 

u      T.  F.  Se ward,  Orange,  N.  J 500 

15.  "      Baltimore 20000 

"       Abroad    1000 

16.  "      Baltimore, •.   18700 

"      Baltimore 75000 

"       W.  H.  Love,  N.  Y 5000 

18.      "      R.  W.  Lawrence,  Supt 1188 

"      Hartford,  Conn - 25000 

"      Brooklyn   21900 

Concord,  N.  H 2<K)  00 


19.      "  J.  A.  Cooke,  Catskill 2500 

"  H.  H.  Oggood,  Norwich,  Conn 20000 

"  John  W.  Post,  Chicopt-c,  Mass 1000 

"  Xaura  L.  Delano,  N.  Y • 20000 

"  T.  S.  John,  N.  Y 500 

"  Baltimore 550  OC 

•'  Brooklyn     271  OC 

»  Arbuckle  Brc».,  N,  y , &0  00 


HISTORY    OF   THE    GREAT   FLOOD    OF    1884. 


Feb.  31.  From  |.  K.  Rland,  Baltimore 400  00 

1       lirooklyn 12700 

23.        '       Mrs.  |."  A.  Lynn,  Richburg,  N.  Y 5155 

M;iyi>r  of  Baltimore 107  99 

M  .  K.  Foster ; 5  00 

*       Mayor  of  Baltimore 15000 

26.        '      (Jrimth  &  Childs,  Lancaster 6450 

"      J.  S.  Porter  1050    10,36642 

Total  subscriptions f  13,667  43 

EXPENDITURES. 

Stationery  4  62 

l.nhor  for  handling  supplies 366  13 

Steamboat  charter,  freight,  coal,  and  other  river  expenses 2,375  46 

Sundries,  comprising  insurance  on  supplies,  hotei  hill,  transient  Relief 
Committee,  <  xpress  charges  on  supplies,  gas  bill  for  depots,  wharf- 
age, telegraph  dispatches,  janitor,  and  other  incidentals  380  39 

Provisions  and  supplies 1,296  42 

Hauling  supplies  to  depot  and  river 42740 

Relief  to  outsiders — 

Cash  to  Middleport 100  00 

Transporting  flood  sufferers 12  75 

Cash  to  Svracuse       20000 

Cash  to  Cheshire  (saving  stock) 70  00 

Cash  for  coal  for  Minersville *     60  00 

Cash  for  coal  for  Syracuse 5000         49275 

Clerk  hire  and  office  work 206  00 

Cash  on  hand  to  pay  incidentals 118  26 

$5,667  43 

The  above  report  of  expenditures  includes  expenses  in  handlin-r  Government  supplies, 
an  itemized  statement  of  which  will  be  found  in  the  Report  No.  1,  of  the  committee  in 
charge  of  Commissary  and  Quartermaster  Stores.  These  supplies  were  purchased  through 
Allemong  &  Henking,  by  Mayor  J.  M.  Alexander,  amounting  to  thirteen  thousand  four 
hundred  and  twenty-three  dollars  and  seventy-two  cents,  and  was  handed  over  by  Mayor 
Alexander  to  the  Relief  Committee  of  Gallipolis,  and  distributed  by  same  to  flood  suf- 
ferers. 

SUMMARY. 

Total  receipts $13.667  43 

Total  expenditures 5,667  43 


Balance  on  hand $8,000  00 

This  amount  will  be  expended  on  repairing  the  homes  of  flood  sufferers,  where  persons 
are  not  able  to  do  so  themselves,  and  a  special  committee  is  now  at  work  for  that  purpose. 

LOUIS  BAER,  Treasurer. 


GALLIPOLIS,  OHIO,  April  29,  1884. 
To  Col.  W.   G.  Fuller,  Chairman,  and  the  Members  of  Hie  General  Relief 

Committee  of  Gallifolis,    Ohio: 

GENTLEMEN — Your  special  committee,  to  whom  was  referred  the  distribu- 
tion of  an  unexpended  cash  balance,  in  jour  hands  beg  leave  to  submit  its  re- 
port, showing  the  amount  of  money  paid  out,  and  to  whom,  accompanied  by 
the  proper  vouchers  in  each  case,  as  follows  : 

Proctorville— Walker  Williams;  $150.00  ;  George  T.  Wilson,  50.00.     Total,  $200.00. 

Guyandotte— Mary  A.  Smith,  $25.00. 

Athalia-J.  H.  Simes.  $100.00  ;  Harriet  Hall,  115.00  ;  R.  W.  Wiley,  150.00  ;  T.  M.  White, 

50.00.;  M.  R.  Becket,  50.00;  Mary  Miller,  25.00;  B.  Knaft,  25.00;  McComas,  75.00; 

Total,  $490 .00 


HISTORY    OF    THE    GREAT    FLOOD    OF    1884.  137 

Millersport— Francs  Nichols,  $100.00;  T-  M.  Dcfour,  25.00:  S.  A  .  Miller,  25.00;  L.  S. 
Ansel,  10.00;  Anna  Varmun,  50.00;  1?.  A.  Wiley.  25.00;  Lydia  Shcpard,  50.00  ;  Clara 
Maker,  25.00;  Andrew  Griffith,  100.00  ;  J.  W.  Dillon,  150.00.  Total,  $560.00. 

Glenwood,  W.  Va.— Henry  Campbell,  $70.00. 

Green  Bottom,  W.  Va.— James  C.  Shaw,  $50.00. 

Crown  City— A.  C.  McClure,  $100.00. 

Ohio  Township— A.  F.  Blake,  $50.00 ;  Nancy  Morton,  20.00.     Total,  $70.00. 

Samp  e's  Landing— John  Miller,  $50.00;  E.  T.  Shepard,  50.00;  Mary  Small,  100.00.  Total, 
$200.00. 

Clay  Township— A.  M.  F.  Cole,  $50.00;  C.  W.  Jones,  35.00;  Andrew  Forth,  10.00  ;  Mary 
Stuart.  50.00  ;  Gilbert  Northup,  25.00  ;  Taylor  Martin,  10.00  ;  J.  D.  Hathaway,  70.00.  To- 
tal, $245.00. 

Clipper  Mill— Elijah  Rood,  $20.00;  Doc  Cole,  25.00;  Harriet  Hamilton,  50.00;  James 
Thevenin,  75.00.  Total.  $170.00. 

Bush's  Mill— S.  R.  Bush,  $50.00. 


Henderson,  W.  Va.— Norman  Gibson,  $50.00;  Hutchinson  &  Co.,  200.00;  John  Gibson. 
30.00;  J.  W.  Burke,  15.00;  J.  A.  Wilson,  50.00;  William  Bates,  50.00;  H.  A.  Darst,  40.00;  J. 
M.  Burke,  jr.,  20.00.  Total,  $455.00. 


Jili/.abelli  llemger,  .>.<*>;   .Mary  Stewart,  a.UU.      lotai,  ^,-jo.uu. 

Buffalo,  W.  V.— |.  E.  A.  Rcunor,  $50.00;  C.  M.  Pitrat,  for  Mrs.  Jones,  50.00;  Mrs.  Wiatt, 
25.00.  Total,  $125.00. 

Addison— D.  A.  Poindcxter,  $100.00:  E.  V.  Ramsey,  20.00;  D.  R.  S.  Shaffer,  65.00;  Elliott 
Watson,  25.00.  Total,  $210.00. 


Long  Bottom— Susan  Stark,  $15.00:   Relief  Committee,  760.00:  E.    Pickerin 


125.00.     To- 

Expenses  of  committee,  $136.35. 

Respectfully  submitted, 

R.  AI.ESIIIRE, 
WILLIAM  NASH, 
JOSEPH  STAFFORD, 
JAS.  MULLINF.UX,  Jr., 

Committee. 

GA  1.1.1  i-oi.is,  April  29,  1884. 

Amount  reported  as  halnnce.in   previous  report.. _ $8,00000 

Incidental  not  rxpcndcd,  and  additional  subscription 154  71 

S8,154  71 
CONTRA. 

Amount  paid  to  special  committee  as  per  foregoing  report $7,348  25 

G.  Roades,  Syracuse,  O.  50  00 

Sundry   expenses     __24   !•"> 

Other  appropriations,  not  included  in  above  report 732  31 

-  $8,154  71 

LOUIS  BAEK,  Sec.  and  Treas. 


